Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his ministerial role. I wish him well for many years ahead. I thank him for joining me this morning for this Commencement matter regarding the continued non-commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. We were previously told that the legislation had not been commenced due to the needed correction of a technical error in the legislation. Following the correction of this error in 2024, however, we were told that further engagement was still …

I thank the Minister. Many fathers in this country have been waiting for this legislation for a very long time. I know there is now an issue in respect of training. This is my fourth or fifth time to bring a Commencement matter on this issue before various Ministers in recent years. I will be keeping an eye on this. If the Minister can give me some feedback on when the training will commence and when fathers will be able to get their names on the birth certificates, that would be most helpful to me and to a great m…

I thank the Minister.

I will talk about the NAMA issue again and the management of Project Eagle. This report has taken seven years to complete, and while its findings exhibit ambiguity, they nonetheless highlight significant concerns regarding the way this country addresses conflicts of interest and transparency, especially in substantial financial transactions such as those involved Project Eagle. Although the report concludes there were no significant deficiencies in the board’s management of the situation involving its former advise…

They are in the report. They are named in the report, so I am quite happy.

That is no problem at all.

I wish to bring up the issue of housing and its impact on young people as well as our ongoing emigration crisis. Many people are already aware that the housing crisis is making life impossible for young Irish people, especially those just leaving college, yet, as always, we need to be reminded of this issue. For example, a recent article in District Magazine found that many young people are having their ability to form romantic relationships sabotaged by the crisis. Many cannot progress or even begin relationships …

I am sharing time with Senator Joe Conway. The Minister of State is welcome. Across the country, we had close to 1 million buildings without electricity. There is estimated damage of over €200 million to homes, roads and infrastructure as well as over €500 million in damage to the timber and horticultural industries. In my home constituency of Meath East, there are still homes that are lacking telephone lines over a month later. As has been said at length in this House, we have seen the result of the Government's t…

I formally request the presence of the Minister for arts, media and communication, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, before this Chamber to address a number of profoundly concerning developments that have transpired within his Department. I am not referring in this instance to the inherited €7 million IT controversy or the oversized scanner. The first matter pertains to the recent disclosure, only last week, that An Garda Síochána has been authorised to survey the private communications of the Irish publication Gript . Thi…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I thank him for joining us today to talk about community safety. We are here to talk about one of the most underacknowledged crises in the nation: the crisis of law and order. Many Irish people across the country feel that policing is virtually non-existent, criminality is allowed to run free and justice for victims is a distant ideal for regular people. At the core of this issue is the critical understaffing of An Garda Síochána. Many communities across Ireland find themselve…

I am delighted to see the Leader back in the Chair this term. With the increase in the Dáil numbers from 160 to 174, in recognition of our growing population, it would be wise to revisit our numbers within local government. In the 2014 local government reforms we reduced our local representation from 1,627 to 949. Our population in 2014 was 4.6 million and today we have a population of 5.5 million. The CSO expert group has projected our population to grow to 7 million by 2050. That would mean every councillor would…

Hear, hear.

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his election. My commiserations to Senators Wilson and Fitzpatrick, who also contested the position. It is not easy to put one's name forward for any election. Senator Wilson would have made a very fine Chair. I am one of the five Cavan people in this Chamber. I am proud to be from there. Where one is from is really important in life. It forms us as the people we are. While I was born in Cavan, I was previously, before being elected as a Senator, elected in County Meath. There ar…

Well done.

Well done, Senator.

It is great to see Senator Ahearn in the Chair today. I hope he will be in that chair in the next Seanad as well. I will start by thanking Martin Groves and all the staff in the Seanad office and all the staff in the Oireachtas, in the Bills Office and research office, the ushers and all those who look after us daily in the restaurant and in these Houses in general. I also thank my colleagues, our leader, Senator Boyhan, Senators McDowell, Craughwell and Clonan, my staff here, Gráinne, Sarah and Robert, and Carolin…

It would be fantastic.

Yes, we can.

This Commencement matter is on the non-commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. This Act was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas on 27 November 2014, and was signed into law on 4 December 2014. As per section 1(3) of the Act, the Minister must commence certain sections. This last happened in 2020 with SI 550 of that year, which commenced sections 5, 7, 8 and 9. This was brought to my attention by the assistant registrar general of the Department in October 2023, when I raised th…