Does that then give Senator Craughwell the flexibility to return to the amendment at a later Stage?

Will I move and withdraw?

It is on-the-job learning.

I move amendment No. 72: "In page 38, line 16, after “143” to insert “or to adequately explain non-compliance”."

I move amendment No. 79: In page 57, line 3, to delete “or” and substitute “and”.

This amendment, which is to section 61 on the strategic development plan of higher education institutions, would have the effect of changing the wording from "students or the students' unions of the institution" to "students and the students' unions of the institution". We propose that it not be one or the other but both to ensure the fullest range of feedback to a governing body or chief executive on strategic development. To put the amendment in context, I echo the sentiments expressed by Senator Dolan about the …

I respectfully disagree with the Minister. That is not a bad thing. Disagreement is the engine for arriving at the truth. The truth of the matter is that in respect of students unions, this Bill, as proposed, is not a step forward. It is a retrograde step. It is a step backwards. The Universities Act and the Technological Universities Act explicitly guarantee the representation of students unions on governing bodies. This Bill, as currently worded, does not. That is a step backwards. Senators Malcolm Byrne and Paul…

I move amendment No. 81: In page 57, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “(i) City and County Councillors;”.

I move amendment No. 82: In page 57, line 26, to delete “and” and substitute the following: “(g) plans to address local regional concerns, and”.

I move amendment No. 83: In page 58, line 11, to delete “or” and substitute “and”.

I wish to raise a serious issue that impacts on all of us. Last week I spoke of the harm being done to children in the Republic through domestic violence. One child an hour experiences domestic violence. That is somewhat beyond our control, but what is in our control is the harm being done to children with disabilities throughout the State. The numbers are extremely alarming. Some 48,000 children are waiting on physiotherapy, more than 10,000 of whom are waiting for more than a year for an appointment, not even for…

I wish to raise a number of issues. This week the Women's Aid Annual Impact Report 2021 was published. I find the contents of it shocking. Its findings are deeply disturbing. We have a persistent and profound problem in Ireland with violence against women. I will quote some of the statistics. According to Women's Aid, 33,831 disclosures of abuse were made during 2021. This represents a deterioration on previous years and may be associated in some way with Covid. It means there were 100 cases of domestic abuse every…

I thank the Minister of State and his officials for being here. I have some concerns about the legislation. I am delighted to see another whistleblower, Peter Behan, here. I am sorry Antoinette and Noel McGree and other whistleblowers cannot be here. My first concern is about section 8, which removes the right to make protected disclosures directly to a Minister. This applied to me back in 2000 when I finished my PhD. It was not a solitary act of whistleblowing but a piece of research supervised by Dublin City Univ…

Ireland has a very particular and toxic culture when it comes to whistleblowing. The 2014 Act, for example, contains within it the assumption that the person who calls attention to wrongdoing will lose his or her job. We need to think about that. There is no mention in this legislation of those who engage in reprisal against whistleblowers. My sin or crime was calling out sexual violence and sexual assault. If that is a crime, take me out and hang me. The people who actively engaged in that reprisal have now been p…

In the last couple of days I have been reflecting after the visit of my great friend and colleague, Senator Ward, and Senator Ahearn to Ukraine. There is particular risk for Members of the Oireachtas participating in these visits. I am concerned about depleted uranium, which is a by-product of nuclear enrichment after uranium-235 is extracted. The remnant uranium is widely used as armour and on the tips of projectiles, missiles and bullets by both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. I am conscious of that when I …

I will not keep the Minister of State long. I will be brief. I was born on the 50th anniversary of the 1916 rising. Fifty years on from that I was born into a republic that could have been characterised as one of a pitchfork and candlestick. Ireland was quite a poor country in European terms. In the 1970s after we joined the European Economic Community, as it was then, it transformed Ireland on a number of fronts in everything from environmental protections to equal status and equality legislation. It really brough…

I wish to thank Sinn Féin for proposing this motion. In a previous life, I worked on the hard Border in the early 1990s prior to the ceasefires in armed support operations for An Garda Síochána. As a young man from Dublin with no experience of living along the Border, it was immediately apparent to me that any border on this island makes no sense for socioeconomic or cultural reasons and even from a narrow military or security perspective it made no sense. The permanent vehicle checkpoint between Newry and Dundalk …

It has been widely reported that the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, will come to the House at 6.30 p.m. and that prior to his discussion of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill, he will apologise on behalf of the Government to those affected by illegal birth registrations. While I welcome this apology and what I am about to say is not a criticism of the Minister, I have some concerns about the timing and nature of the apology. To put it in its context, the spe…

I absolutely respect his utmost good faith-----

-----but I think it would be great for the country if the Taoiseach would do that.