I move amendment No. 1: In page 15, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “(iv) anyone who wishes to avail of the AHR, any surrogacy services or wishes to be a commissioning parent shall be required to meet all of the same requirements and standards as a person wishing to adopt a child;”. These amendments outline specific regulations and penalties relating to surrogacy services and the abandonment of children conceived through surrogacy. They emphasise the importance of protecting the rights and well-be…

I am disappointed that the Minister will not accept amendment No. 15. I have been a foster parent over the years and I can tell him that sexual crimes against children are not exclusive to men; they also applies in the case of women. It is disturbing that he will not accept that, particularly in the context of someone who has been convicted of a crime against a child. If the Minister is trying to maintain public trust and confidence in surrogacy services, adherence to strict regulations and standards that prioritis…

I find the accusation made by the Senator really unwarranted. Unlike many Members of the Seanad, I have had 122 children in my care over the years and many of them were victims of child sexual abuse perpetrated on them not just by somebody male in their family but also by somebody female in their family. That amendment was tabled with only the interest of the child in mind. I have stood many times in this Chamber discussing child protection, Senator Kearney, and you know that-----

-----Senator Seery Kearney and you know that-----

-----and how important that is for me. In fact, if I go back to------

-----who the Senator quoted earlier-----

-----she quoted Professor Conor O'Mahony and he actually-----

I am counteracting what the Senator said.

That is fine.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 56, line 32, to delete “two years” and substitute “five years”. This is to substitute “two years” with “five years”. We want to do this in light of the recent influx because of the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is probably the largest market in the world for surrogacy at this moment in time, which is why we have asked for this to be extended to five years. In committee, I wanted to bring in a number of witnesses but that was not possible for a number of reasons. One of those was Mykola Kul…

Some $250,000.

I would like to raise the issue of independent councillors who have been elected to local government and the co-options of their positions. Sometimes in local governments and local county councils there is a gentleman's agreement that that councillor will be allowed to co-opt another independent councillor into that position but some councils do not have this. It is grossly unfair when there is a power grab by political parties for those independent seats in local government and the same happens here in the Seanad.…

The Minister is welcome to join us here this afternoon. The recent elections were stolen by false promises from Fine Gael to fix the migrant crisis in this country.

The most egregious part of this theft above all is the destruction of tents and the removal of the few possessions of people who come to our shores, which is a daft PR exercise to pretend this Government is serious about migration. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We have-----

I am not saying-----

That is not a point of order.

We have local and national indigenous problems with migration. Creating such a radical overhaul of legislation based on orders from Brussels cannot work well on this issue. It is simply too complex. Ireland should co-operate with Brussels on sensible migration policy. However, NGOs such as Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, the Irish Refugee Council and Nasc: Migrants and Refugee Rights all oppose this pact, which suggests this is not the way to co-operate with EU or neighbouring countries. The Government parties are t…

If the Minister is-----

Fine Gael is not serious about fixing this migration policy.