I thank the Minister for coming in. I recognise the significant contribution he, as Minister, has made to special needs education, particularly for students with disabilities in higher education institutions, HEIs, including those participating in the publicly funded university sector and those in the so-called private sector, for example, Griffith College and Dublin Business School, DBS. People often associate those private colleges with rich kids but the vast majority of students who attend those HEIs are atypica…

It is Clonan, not Cloonan.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. I spoke at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Health last week and asked questions of the chief medical officer, CMO, and the CEO of CHI. I am a parent of an adult son who had surgery in Temple Street hospital. Like so many children on that list, he had his surgery way too late. He was on that waiting list for years. This is the situation for hundreds and hundreds of other children and young adults as we speak. I am not a member of that committee. I was not aware that…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta James Browne, go dtí an Seanad. Unprecedented action is taking place today where, country-wide, barristers and solicitors who represent clients who are accused of criminal offences are actually boycotting our court system. I think it is the first time in the history of the State that this has happened. It represents, as has been outlined by Senator McDowell, a crisis in their pay and remuneration to the extent that it is difficult for the Irish criminal Bar to recruit g…

On today's Order of Business, I want to raise the issue of a proposal that is contained within a Green Paper on the reform of disability services to medically assess disabled citizens on the basis of their capacity to work. We all know, in the context of the awful scoliosis and spinal surgery scandal in Children's Health Ireland, CHI, that is emblematic of how disabled citizens, both children and adults, are treated in the Republic of Ireland. Having children on waiting lists for years until they are in extremis is…

I thank the Taoiseach for coming in. I had the pleasure of meeting his lovely mum here two weeks ago, so I appreciate the importance of family. I am conscious that more than 100,000 disabled citizens and their families live in continuous poverty in Ireland. I refer to the time that is left in this Administration. Since I came in here, I have enjoyed very generous support from everybody in this House and from all Senators. That includes Senators from this side of the House and Government Senators from Fianna Fáil, F…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have been asked on behalf of my colleagues, Senators Ruane and Higgins, to move several amendments for them. Regarding Dáil amendment No. 3c to this legislation, the rationale for the Senators' proposed amendments to this amendment is as follows: this grouping of amendments relates to an issue that my colleague Senator Higgins raised extensively when this legislation was last before the Seanad in 2019. We are concerned that "national, regional and local economic, soci…

I move amendment No. 1 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: To delete paragraph (d)(i) and substitute the following: "(d) selecting the most suitable bog habitats to be designated as natural heritage areas having regard to— (i) all of the matters to which the Minister is required to have regard under section 16(6), (ii) the list of proposed natural heritage areas, (iii) the need to protect bog habitats both for biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and (iv) the need to adequately implement Article 10 of Directi…

I move amendment No. 2 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: To delete clauses (Il), (Ill) and (IV) of paragraph (d)(i).

I move amendment No. 3 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: To delete paragraph (d)(i)(lll).

I move amendment No. 4 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(i)(lll), before "facilities" to insert "environmental".

I move amendment No. 5 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(i)(lll), before "projects" to insert "environmental".

I move amendment No. 6 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(i)(lll), after "projects", to insert "having a primary objective of environmental conservation, restoration or protection".

I move amendment No. 7 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(i)(lll), after "community," to insert "which shall not include football pitches, golf courses, hotels or car parks,".

I move amendment No. 8 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(i)(lll), after "community," to insert "but which shall not include projects without a clear and primary environmental objective".

I move amendment No. 9 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(ii)(lll), after "needs", to insert "and where there is an associated clear benefit accruing to the wider public".

I move amendment No. 10 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: To delete paragraph (d)(ii)(IV).

I move amendment No. 11 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(ii)(IV), before "facilities", to insert "environmental".

I move amendment No. 12 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(ii)(IV), before "facilities", to insert "environmental".: In paragraph (d)(ii)(IV), after "projects", to insert "having a primary objective of environmental conservation, restoration or protection".

I move amendment No. 13 to consequential Dáil amendment No. 3c: In paragraph (d)(ii)(IV), before "facilities", to insert "environmental".: In paragraph (d)(ii)(IV), after "community," to insert "which shall not include golf courses, hotels or car parks,".