I thank the Minister of State.

I will raise two issues. I support the Order of Business. I acknowledge the Government's announcement of the circular economy Bill. It is excellent legislation that takes on board concerns raised when we discussed Senator Malcolm Byrne's Bill. I acknowledge the work of the Senator. Most of that has been embedded into the Bill. The Minister of State with responsibility for the circular economy, Deputy Ossian Smyth, represents Dún Laoghaire, where I live. I acknowledge the work of Senator Malcolm Byrne and that of th…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is important and timely legislation. It has been a long time coming. At the outset, I acknowledge the enormous work of a former colleague of the Minister of State, and former Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government, Maria Bailey. I am looking at her name on the report and the seven key recommendations dated December 2017. She did an enormous amount of work. She was exceptionally focused in this area. She had a huge inter…

I second the proposal.

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule. As a front-line Minister we very much appreciate him coming to the House to deal with this important issue.

I thank the Minister. I now call Senator Paul Daly, who has six minutes.

I will now call on the last speaker, Senator Maria Byrne. The Minister must be given ten minutes to reply to the debate and we must conclude by 7 p.m. Senator Byrne has six minutes but if she could conclude within five minutes, that would be great.

I thank the Senator and now call on the Minister to reply to the debate.

I thank the Minister. That concludes statements. The Minister is staying for the next business, which is the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021. Senator Dolan will chair this.

My point is a point of order in respect of what the Acting Chairperson just said regarding commenting on amendments. We need to be clear that all the amendments on the clár are valid. They were ruled out of order but were validly and legitimately received. They were put on the agenda, circulated to us and have been subsequently ruled out of order. To be helpful, and I want to be helpful to the Acting Chairperson, I ask that when an amendment is being ruled out of order - this is provided for and there is precedent …

I second the amendment.

I thank Senator Higgins for her significant work on the amendment. It comprises, as she said, four subsets of ideas, all of which are reasonable. Her argument is strong, good, robust and well founded and I am impressed by how she condensed her points in her contribution. It resonates with me because the Irish Environmental Network made similar points and highlighted these issues. I acknowledge that body for its close work with environmentalists in all parties and none. Some people think they are advocates for organ…

One cannot but admire Senator Higgins for her tremendous skill, ability to debate and craftsmanship in the art of politics. I say fair play to her for referring to the crataegus and to other trees. I also say well done to her regarding her commitment in respect of this entire area. To go back to the native Irish pine, it is important that we acknowledge the tremendous work of the botany school and environmental faculty down the road in Trinity College Dublin. They have done a great deal of collaborative work on thi…

We can speak now.

No, we want to speak before that.

We will speak before that.

That should be on the schedule the Acting Chairperson has in front of her.

We are not going to speak after the Bill has passed. We are not going to speak twice.

We can speak now. We have started doing so. A precedent has been set.

May I speak on the Fifth Stage as well?