I thank the Acting Chair. I condemn anybody who makes personal remarks about the Minister because of his sexuality. That is not why I am here this morning. I understand we do not want money sitting unused and virements are an important part of ensuring the continued efficiency of Government spending. However, many found it unusual that all of these unspent moneys from disparate funds ended up being siphoned off and spent on the same issue. The Minister's Department has the widest remit of any Department. Its full t…

We would not have time here today to talk about the plight of children and their families across the country if it took up all the Commencement slots. Would they not have benefitted from the €1.1 million in funding?

I will investigate the other 25.

The Minister of State is welcome to the Chamber. I think this is the first time I have addressed the House in his presence. We can all agree that desperate times call for desperate measures. We have certainly heard some desperate measures being mooted in some corners in connection with solutions to the housing crisis. Whether it is running the landlords out or the seizing of private property by the State, many of these desperate measures seem to be from the stick, rather than the carrot, school of thought. That is …

I wish to support Senator O’Loughlin in her calls for fertility legislation and also her call regarding the Women of Honour group. This House needs a debate on the treatment of women in this country. The Leader can decide whether the Minister for Justice or the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth needs to be here for it, but it needs to happen now. Like many in the House, I have been following the horrific treatment of one of our Irish sportswomen, Ms Kellie Harrington, by the media o…

I second the amendment.

The Minister is welcome to the House. This is a welcome Bill, which abolishes the daily rate of €80 for acute inpatient services, up to a maximum of ten nights or €800 in a 12-month period. The Minister described the Bill in the Dáil as "a very clear symbol of our path towards universal healthcare". Do we have a clear path towards universal capacity? At the start of the month, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, stated there were no plans to make public transport free as that would increase the number of…

I call for a debate in this Chamber with the Minister for Justice on protecting the rights of conscientious objectors in both the public and private sectors. Increasingly, we see people forced to embrace values with which they do not agree. A new policy entitled Gender Identity in the Workplace is mandatory for all members of An Garda Síochána. It states that refusing to acknowledge a person's gender pronouns or new name will constitute discrimination under the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equality Status A…

In decades to come many viewpoints that are part of the consensus today will be considered unusual and immoral. That is the problem with culturally relative viewpoints. In recent years there has been-----

-----a much greater intolerance for dissenting viewpoints, and the desire of censorship has become far too common. In that regard, for some politicians and activists there has been an à la carte approach-----

One second, a Chathaoirligh. I am nearly finished. If you could give me less than 30 seconds-----

I will conclude by saying that it would be great if the Minister for Justice were prepared to show that the Government cares about protecting the rights of dissidents. I hope we can discuss this issue in more depth in this Chamber. Thank you, Chair, for the extra few minutes.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I call for a debate with the Minister for Finance on what Ireland could be doing to prepare for the global financial shock waves arising out of the recent banking panic in the USA and Europe. Central banks are seeking to clamp down on rising inflation with a global increase in interest rates, the reversal of quantitative easing schemes and the large-scale selling of government bonds. The widespread bank runs in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and the Credit Suisse rescue and …

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. It is always a pleasure to address the House on International Women's Day as part of the Seanad Independent Group. There are many things that we could discuss about women today, including the incredibly varied lived experience of the women of Ireland and their essential contributions to this country, what it is to be a mother and what it is to be a woman in business and enterprise. I want to talk about an area which is common to all of us here, which is being a woman in politi…

I thank Senator Currie. I am not sure if Members are aware but at 2 p.m., a bust of two great women who have made major contributions to politics in this country will be unveiled in the main hall. The Minister may need to attend, and I am sure all Members would like to be present. I ask the remaining speakers to keep their contributions to a little less than six minutes.

That would be fantastic. It may be possible for all of us to attend. Is that okay with the Minister and Senators?

That is agreed.

The Senator is over time now.

The six minutes are gone.