I want to raise the issue of the divestment of schools. The debate has sprung up again about the divestment of schools in this country, that is, schools removing themselves from the patronage of the Catholic Church. This debate has been springing up every now and again for the past few years, often when there is a slow news day. As of 2021, of the national total of 3,126 standard schools, 88% had Catholic patrons, 5.7% were controlled by the Church of Ireland, 1% were controlled by other religious organisations whi…

I do not agree with that.

I welcome the Minister to the House and I commend my colleague Senator Chambers on this Bill. As someone who was the victim of a stalker for a number of years, I welcome this legislation. I am delighted to see it and I welcome that the Minister is bringing it swiftly through both Houses. I thank her for that.

I second the Bill. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I am glad to be here to support the Bill this evening. A lot of work has gone into it. I commend my Independent colleague, Senator Mullen, on bringing it forward. We are always in need of keen-eyed legislators who can spot areas where the law is falling down and there is work to be done. That is what we are here to do, to make the law as good as we can and improve it as much as we can. Fraud is a constant problem in this country, as it is in man…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I thank him for giving of his time to deal with this matter. The household benefits package helps with the cost of electricity or gas and waives the television licence fee for persons aged 70 or over and has been of immense help to thousands of people across the country. It is a scheme which should be lauded and built upon. In recognition of the role played by the Internet in our daily lives, the inclusion of a broadband allowance as part of the household benefi…

The Minister of State has not told me anything new. I knew about these payments and allowances that are allocated to the elderly. This is a very specific allowance for broadband, which can be a considerable cost to the elderly, particularly those who live on their own and have nobody. Those who live on their own are the most vulnerable. The allowance of €2.50, which amounts to around €113 a year, probably pays for two months of broadband costs. I ask that the Government look at providing a broadband allowance as pa…

I want to pay tribute to a Cavan woman, Leona Maguire, on winning the LPGA tournament this weekend. She is a great ambassador not only for Cavan but for young women in sport and young girls. Last October the Leader promised me she would arrange a debate in the Seanad on mental health and young people. We talked last week and in previous weeks about the death of Eden Heaslip. This weekend I had the experience of the youngest death ever where I had to walk into and out of a house and that was of a 14-year-old child w…

I wish to raise the issue on the National Women's Council. I was looking over the headlines yesterday and read, "Woman in hospital after assault in broad daylight in St. Stephen's Green" and "Gardaí identify boy (13) as person of interest in attack on woman in Cork". I thought, "What on Earth is going on? What has become of this country?" However, I remembered that we, luckily, have many great supports for women from all walks of life and there is help to be had out there for those who need it. We have people fight…

I am delighted to see the Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (Amendment) Bill 2022 before the House today. I support my colleague Senator Flynn in proposing it. A number of terms have been used to replace the term "child pornography", such as "child sexual exploitation material", "child sexual abuse material" and "child sexual abuse imagery". Such phrases go to greater lengths to convey the gravity and severity of these crimes against children by placing the nature of the crime in the title or…

I want to raise the issue of unmasking schoolchildren. When the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, decided that primary school children should be masked back at the start of December, the National Parents Council was flooded with calls from concerned parents. They did not feel they had been given enough information to understand why their children now needed to wear masks, when all through the pandemic mask wearing had not been required. Perhaps since then that information has been given but certainly si…

Hear, hear.

And admitting to it.

I second the motion. I do not wish to take too much away from Senator Craughwell. I commend my good Independent colleague on his tenacity and doggedness in pursuing this issue. "Doggedness" is the right word because he is a dog with a bone, an army attack dog, and he has not let go of this issue despite all the obstacles and opposition he has faced. I am sure there are people who would rather that this issue be dropped and I am sure there have been many efforts to that effect but we are still here because Gerard Cr…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber for what was introduced as a most important matter - so much so that the Government benches are almost empty. Indeed one could say that this is parliamentary party business masquerading as parliamentary business. I thank Ms Siobhan Byrne and all the staff in the passport service and recognise the incredible pressure they are working under. A number of Senators mentioned the relaxation of the checks and balances relating to children's passports, particularly first-time passports…

It probably will.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, to delete lines 1 to 4 and substitute the following: “(3) In this section ‘stalking behaviour’ means persistently engaging in one or more than one of the following: (a) following, watching, pestering or communicating by any means of communication with or about a person;”. This amendment moves the word "persistently" up one line from subsection 3(a) of the proposed new section 10A to be inserted into the principal Act in order that it applies to subsections 3(a) to 3(h) rather than…

I thank Senator Chambers. I honestly do not want us to have to come back to amend this legislation, as we had to do with the Children Act 2001. That is why I pointed out this potential issue. If the Senator is confident that what is in this legislation is adequate, I will withdraw my amendment.

I thank the Minister for her statement today. I spoke after our recess about how the media coverage of the senseless murder of Ashling Murphy caused so many people to be aware of it and started so many national conversations around the treatment and experiences of women in this country. The flipside of this, of course, is that so often the long-term issues and the constant problems do not make the headlines yet these too must be part of the conversation. I do not think that we are experiencing an epidemic of male v…

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is good to see the recent statement from NBI on the progress in surveying homes in Donegal. I hope that in the coming months people will be able to experience the stated benefits of broadband in rural areas, from mobile working, e-learning and mobile banking, to digital tourism. It is important to recognise that progress is being made. However, for a plan of this magnitude, we really must dial back and look at the rate of progress and the meeting of deadlines. That is where…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for letting me speak at this point. I have to leave early so I will not be here for the Minister of State's reply. I support the Bill and thank Senator Malcolm Byrne for bringing it to the House. Three great loves of mine are empowering local government, being tough on crime and good data management. I supported the Labour Party's Local Government (Use of CCTV in Prosecution of Offences) Bill 2021 last year but argued that its scope needed to be broadened. That seems to have happened with …