I thank the Minister of State and take three key points away from his response. I agree with him in terms of Aarhus being such an important piece of legislation. It is a tool to assist people in the context of their environmental, planning and sustainable development rights, and advocacy. I am particularly happy that he is very much part of this. I never doubted that for one minute. I also take away that it is a primary issue for the Department of Justice. There is an overlap between the Department of Housing, Loca…

Before I call on the Minister of State, I wish to acknowledge Senator Conway's enormous work in advocacy for the disability sector generally. He has been an amazing advocate, and a strong and vocal champion, for the NCBI, the National League of the Blind of Ireland Trust and the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. What better and more powerful way to be an advocate than in the Houses of the Oireachtas, playing a real role in terms of legislation? I do not want to let this opportunity go without acknowledging that fact.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Harris, to the House.

Hear, hear.

Before coming to the matter I intended to raise today, I note the Leas-Chathaoirleach acknowledged, and rightly so, Finland's national day. In a light-hearted way, we referred to Santa as being from Finland. Senator Chambers then raised the issue of Afghanistan. I fully agree with the point she made. Let us come closer to home, to the European Union, of which we are members. We could do more, and we need to have a bigger conversation on the issue. What will Santa be bringing to the children of Afghanistan? Let us t…

Can we stick to the topic, please, Senator, which is Covid-19?

I appreciate that, but we are conscious that everyone has restricted their engagement to this subject. I appreciate where the Senator is coming from and I thank him.

I thank the Senator Ward, who pushed the parameters a bit there. Can I suggest to the Minister to respectfully say to the Senator that these are either Commencement matters or matters for engagement with her? Many issues were raised by the Senator. The Minister is writing copious notes, but we have very limited time. I appreciate, nonetheless, where the Senator is coming from. I call Senator Lombard, who has five minutes.

I thank Senator Lombard. Before I hand the Chair back to the Leas-Chathaoirleach, I take this opportunity to join others in thanking the Minister for coming here. It is greatly appreciated when the front-line Minister comes to the House. I join colleagues in saying that the Minister is greatly admired for her work. Hers is not an easy task. We know that, and it was clearly shared here today in the context of the various themes that were discussed. I wish the Minister and her officials in the Department continued su…

I will be brief. The issue I wish to raise with the Deputy Leader is that of the Trinity by-election to fill the vacancy resulting from the election to the Dáil of former Senator Bacik. It is important in a democracy in which we have elections that we proceed to carry them out. There is an expectation that the seat should be filled. The Labour Party got the full support of the House for a motion requiring the Clerk of Seanad Éireann to notify the Minister of the vacancy. I ask the Deputy Leader to seek for the offi…

I second the motion and will use the last minute and half or so of the slot to thank my colleague and friend, Senator McDowell, for setting out the terms of the motion, which are very clear. A number of independent sources have documented the abuses in China well in recent years, including The Guardian . I acknowledge that. There is also Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Forbes and the Council of Europe. I will make two simple requests of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I would like him to publicly express conce…

What a momentous day it is for Barbados. We are a republic ourselves and proud of our own tradition as a republic. This morning at 4 a.m. our time, the world's newest republic was avowed. What a wonderful achievement for that small country. It comes 55 years to the day since Barbados gained full independence. Today, I wish its people, its Government and the newly-elected and sworn-in President every success. I know everyone will join with me in that.

Res publica means a government whose power is held by its people and their elected representatives. What a great tradition and achievement. It is a new start and a restart for the people of Barbados and I wish them well. I raise the issue of Galway County Council's funding crisis. A decision to postpone the budget in Galway was made yesterday. There is a serious crisis as regards local government and the Leader will be aware that this is an issue right across the country. Senators Kyne, Crowe and others have contin…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for attending. I also thank the Leader, Senator Gallagher and all the other Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Senators who signed this important Bill. From listening to the Leader, I got a sense of the urgency and frustration around the Bill. I have worked in the horticulture business all of my life. I worked in the research centre in Kinsealy. Thirty years ago, people were looking at alternatives in the casing of mushrooms. By the way, a mushroom is not a vegetabl…

I welcome the Minister to the House.

I thank the Minister for that comprehensive statement. At the outset, I thank the Cathaoirleach for inviting me to chair this session. It means a lot to me and I am particularly pleased to be in the Chair. Little did I think I would be here at a particularly important juncture like a debate on this topic. I thank the House for the privilege. I call on Senator Murphy from Fianna Fáil. He has five minutes.

I thank all Senators who have contributed to the debate. Before I call on the Minister to reply, there were several mentions of the name Catherine Corless. That was a common theme. I would like to acknowledge, as I am sure everyone here would like to acknowledge, that, as was covered in the press, Ms Corless received a Red Cross lifetime achievement award two days ago for her work in Tuam and her advocacy around this whole area. We acknowledge that and wish her well.

I thank the Minister for the extensive time he has spent engaging with us. That is the great thing about there not being too many people involved in a debate. We had a great amount of time to discuss the issue with the Minister and we appreciate that. When is it proposed to sit again?

Last night we had a debate about scoliosis and the terrible scandal in scoliosis waiting lists. I do not intend to discuss this issue for any length now but I ask that the Deputy Leader or the Leader’s office consider writing to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, to request that he meet with the advocacy groups on that issue. That is their request. Early this morning I received an email from Scoliosis Awareness & Support Ireland. In summary it states: "thank you so much for your continued support, your fire,…

I thank the Leader for setting out the draft Order of Business today. I will start by congratulating Dublin city councillors for approving an 853-home development. It is a very important decision and it took a long time coming. There was much debate about Oscar Traynor Road and that site with regard to the quota and percentage of social houses, affordable houses and council-owned houses. It is a council site and the councillors exercised their powers and functions, and they must be commended on doing so against a l…