I start by paying tribute to the Minister. His response to the issue of UK registered vessels has been good so far. It is good to see that response. I am not sure that another Minister would have responded in such a way to designate additional ports. However, I am concerned that a minimalist approach was taken in the designation of these additional ports, with the least amount of ports being designated as possible to get over the line. The additional ports will be required and used at all times. This is particularl…

I am not going to beat around the bush. I think the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, should resign. To say that the handling of the reopening of schools has been an omnishambles would be the understatement of the year. I suppose it is still January, but given how awful this Government is, I am sure there are more fiascos en route . The Department's press release issued earlier this week beggars belief. The attempt to pit parents against teachers, SNAs and unions is reprehensible, e…

I am delighted to speak briefly on the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion regarding pay for student nurses and midwives. The Covid-19 crisis has shone a spotlight on our health service and front-line workers. Last year, we had a number of debates and discussions on the issue of the pay and conditions of student nurses and midwives, who have been putting their lives on the line during this unprecedented global pandemic. On 10 December 2020, the Tánaiste said during Leaders' Questions: I do think that student nurses s…

Last week I asked the Taoiseach about the refusal by the commission on mother and baby homes of subject access requests. The Taoiseach responded by stating: “The Minister's bona fides were absolutely correct on that occasion ... I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy on the specific point he raised”. The first part of the answer was fallacious, and the latter part has not occurred. I want to ask the Taoiseach about the major landslide of unstable peat caused by wind farm construction at Meenbog in Doneg…

We have only been dealing with Covid-19 and its impacts for a year now, whereas Brexit feels like the never-ending saga. It is almost five years since the Brexit vote. It has taken five years to get us to this point where an EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement was finally agreed by negotiators on Christmas Eve 2020 and was provisionally applicable from 1 January 2021. At that time, the EU was given until 28 February 2021 to ratify the agreement. This involves the complex legal text being translated and there are…

I am glad that my wains are young adults and done with school because the U-turns this Government has taken over the reopening of schools has had me spinning around. The utter disregard for students, parents, teachers, principals and all of the ancillary school staff has been shocking. I am not usually shocked at this Government’s incompetence and arrogance; I expect it, unfortunately. People are being told to stay at home, to work from home and to learn from home. The Government forged ahead with plans to reopen s…

The Government is rightly facing a wave of upset and anger from the survivors and victims of the mother and baby homes on the back of the publication of the commission's report and the Government's handling of it. We in the Opposition warned the Government of this back in October when the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, rammed the commission of investigation records legislation through the Dáil in a single day. We now see that subject access requests for personal…

Gaslighting is the process of causing someone to doubt their own thoughts, beliefs and perceptions. We have reached a stage of Government gaslighting where people are quote-tweeting news headlines correcting the information that is being falsely peddled by the Government. The Government did not listen to NPHET advice in the run-up to Christmas and instead went along with what its lobbyist friends wanted. In the last week or so, the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Health have been doing interviews and completel…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “ “intimate image” means a visual recording of a person made by any means including a photographic, film or video recording (whether or not the image of the person has been altered in any way)— (a) (i) of his or her genital organs or anal region or her breasts (whether covered by underwear or bare), (ii) in which the person is nude, is exposing his or her genital organs or anal region or her breasts, (iii) in which the person is en…

Speaking to the amendment earlier I neglected to mention Deputy Howlin and his help in bringing this Bill forward. I wanted to take the opportunity to state that because the Bill is vitally important and it is a great tribute to the Deputy. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State is accepting amendment No. 5 as a compromise. That is important. I hope the reasons he has given for rejecting the other amendments will not turn out to be true and that his acceptance of amendment No. 5 will be enough to provide the…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 4, to delete lines 3 and 4 and substitute the following: “2. (1) Any person who distributes, publishes, transmits, sells, makes available, advertises or threatens to distribute, publish, transmit, sell, make available or advertise an intimate image of another person—”. The purpose of amendment No. 8 is to strengthen the law on the distribution or publication of any images or making them available. I have just lost my notes on the amendment so I cannot speak further on it. The intenti…

I move amendment No. 11: In page 4, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: "(c) intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or through coercion requests, receives or procures any intimate image of a person from a third party without the consent of the person depicted in the image and with the knowledge that the intimate image is being distributed or published without consent of the person,".

I move amendment No. 16: 16 . In page 5, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “ Harassment 5 . (1) A person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse— (a) intentionally or recklessly— (i) persistently follows, watches, pesters or besets another person, (ii) persistently communicates with another person, or (iii) persistently communicates with a third person about another person, and (b) by those acts seriously interferes with the peace and privacy of the other person or causes alarm, distress …

I move amendment No. 18: In page 5, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(2) The person against whom the offence was committed may at any time, apply to a judge of the Circuit Court, to waive their right to anonymity. The Court may accept this provided the person is of sound mind and not a protected or relevant person or a ward of court and provided also that the Court is of the opinion that it is in the interests of justice for the person to waive their right to anonymity.". This amendment comes out …

I move amendment No. 21: In page 6, to delete lines 19 to 22 and substitute the following: “ Summary proceedings: no time limit 7 . Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted at any time from the date on which the person against whom the offence was committed became aware of the offence.”. This amendment relates to the time limit on summary proceedings. The Observatory on Violence against Women and the Victims’ Alliance…

This was discussed on Committee Stage and the Minister was opposed to it. There is a difference which has to be taken on board in the Department. From memory, I think it was discussed on Committee Stage that one single image could exist of a person and that would be seen as a minor offence, whereas more images would be more serious and dealt with at the more serious stage in terms of the Circuit Court and stuff like that. One image can have a huge negative impact and that is the problem. The 1851 Act is probably no…

It might be a matter for the judge but these cases will not even get as far as the judge. That is the problem. Is the Minister of State saying one image will be put forward to the judge in the Circuit Court? I would say that following the investigation, it will not be put forward by the DPP or even by the gardaí to the DPP. They will say it is a single image, it does not matter and it is not an indictable offence.

Almost a month ago, it was reported that we were to pay €12.5 million to Denmark and €37.5 million to Estonia for the statistical transfer of renewable energy sources. This €50 million was for 3,500 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity because we are missing our agreed target by between 3% and 4%. Our overall target was 16% and because of our inability to reach our targets, we are buying gigawatt hours on paper. Our target was previously 20% but had to be lowered because we were already significantly behind with…

I have been reviewing the conclusions of the European Council meeting which seems to have covered a lot of topics. What strikes me about how the conclusions are presented is the unnecessary language used. Do the European Council, the European Commission and other EU bodies ever produce materials in accessible format? We hear about civic engagement and involving citizens in our democracies, yet reports are produced in a way that prevents people from understanding what is going on. If these reports were written in pl…

The Minister of State mentioned the Brexit adjustment reserve. It has been widely reported that the French are looking to use that reserve to offset losses in the fishing industry. Does that mean that fishing has been sold out and gone as a result of Brexit? Ultimately, we will go along with what the French decide because I imagine we will not fight for the fishing industry.