I thank the Minister of State for his time taking those two Commencement matters today. I thank the Senator for raising that important matter.

This morning, many Senators will have received a letter from the Ombudsman for Children's Office in relation to the International Protection Bill 2026. It states: Dear Senator, As I’m sure you are aware the International Protection Bill 2026 is due to go to Report and Final Stages in the Seanad at 1pm this afternoon. If this legislation passes in its current form, we are concerned that children seeking asylum in Ireland could be more vulnerable than ever before to breaches of their rights. The letter then refers to…

If that is the way it is going to continue, then this a very sad day for the Seanad and for the people-----

I will finish on this point. It is a very sad day for the people who advocated and worked hard for the retention of Seanad Éireann, because they believed it had a function. If what is proposed happens, it will be a sad day for Seanad Éireann. That is something on which we must all reflect.

I welcome the Minister back to the House. I thank him and support all of these amendments. They are the Minister's amendments and clearly indicate that he listened. He said he would. He kept it concise. The amendments are primarily about children and vulnerable people, who were very much the principal concern of Senators on this side of the House who spoke and who are the ones who are extensively contributing to the whole debate. I want to acknowledge that. It is important. I will not go into great detail on it now…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 19, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(4) (a) Within 12 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall produce a report on the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. (b) The report shall analyse the effects of this Act and include details as to whether immigrants are receiving appropriate legal counselling and are being treated humanely in detention in line with national law and the European Convention on Human Rights.”.

We have discussed this amendment. To my understanding, the Minister did not have a particular objection to any of it on the previous Stage. He did say it might not be necessary, but I would rather have the protection. I do not think it would do any harm to have this amendment included in the legislation. What this amendment seeks to do is to provide that: (a) Within 12 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall produce a report on the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. (b) The report shall analyse…

I am speaking on the amendment.

Okay. We will not speak about the guillotine that has been agreed. To revert to this amendment as well as the Minister's amendments, we will not have an opportunity to speak on many of the them. That presents a bit of a difficulty, but at least if we accept this amendment and the two parts to it, we would have a review in 12 months that would look at the concerns related to the passing of this legislation. Senator McDowell indicated Standing Orders, and the Minister will recall that we discussed this. That is also …

I listened attentively to the Minister's response. I take from it that he does not, in principle, have a difficulty with the objective. He has clearly articulated and identified our objective, which is great, so we are not losing anything in translation there. The Minister will be aware that I asked for a report "Within 12 months". I did not say "every 12 months". Given the nature and the concerns about the International Protection Bill 2026, Senator McCarthy and I believe we should be cautious and that we should h…

Yes.

Not agreed.

I propose to take four minutes and share time with Senator Mullen who will take two minutes if that is acceptable to the House.

I welcome the Minister of State and thank the Government for indicating its support for this amendment. There are no amendments to this motion, which is interesting. I heard a number of people around the corridors of Leinster House in recent days say that there was not a hope in hell and that it would not wash with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Senators did not put down any amendments. Not many of them have even spoken about the Bill to date. We still have a little time. I thank the Minister o…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. I thank him for coming to the House to deal with this Commencement matter, which relates to Dundrum town centre, rather than the commercial shopping centre that many people know Dundrum for. I am talking about the fabric, the community and the existing town that is Dundrum. For those who do not know, Dundrum is the second major town centre within the local authority administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown so it is a major town centre zoning, and sometimes peo…

I have a few more years to do here myself.

I thank the Minister of State. In essence, it is obvious to all that this funding needs to come forward. In summary, the strong rationale for this investment has been validated in the community, cultural and civic action plan for Dundrum by the provision, as the Minister of State said already in his response, of €4 million from earlier URDF funding. Basically, there has been a substantial amount of money put into this project and this concept. We need to get it from the concept up. We could not surely turn our back…

There is a pairing arrangement.

I would like to raise the issue of the follow-up inspection report to an earlier report by the Inspector of Prisons on Mountjoy Prison. I wish to acknowledge and appreciate the amazing work done by the chief inspector of our Prison Service, Mark Kelly. I have twice requested that the report be discussed by the House because of its importance. Certain reports are required in legislation to be laid before the Houses. This report was laid before the Oireachtas on 4 February 2026. Within days of that I might have first…

He might want to respond.