I thank the Minister of State for coming in to deal with quite a few Commencement matters this morning. It is greatly appreciated by the Members. I thank Senator Cassells as well. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy James Browne, to the House.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to take this Commencement matter which relates to the Naval Service's plans to acquire a flagship multirole vessel, MRV. This arises from a number of concerns relating to the Department and the navy. I thank Mr. Darragh Duncan, a UCD student working as an intern in my office, who has done considerable research on the issue. There are clearly many conflicting issues around these matters. I will take the Minister of State through some of those issues chronological…

I am conscious that the Minister of State is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney. I thank the Minister, through the Minister of State, for his very comprehensive response. That is his style and the way he operates. I like that he accepts there were shortcomings. He refers to the European Commission's audit and subsequent administration inquiry, which identified there were severe and significant weaknesses in the Irish control system. This is a Minister who is prepared to face up…

I join my colleagues in congratulating Deputy Bacik. What a wonderful achievement for a wonderful person and politician. I said to her here last week, when she was sitting next to me and pushing her 12 or 13 amendments to the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill, most of which were not accepted by the Government, that this will no doubt be her last piece of important legislation in this House. Everyone wished her well and believed that this was her time and that she deserved to be recognised by the electorate. She achie…

All Members join in wishing the Minister of State well. He has a lot of work to get done before then.

I look forward to that link, as I am sure do other Members, which will be helpful.

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response and all who contributed to the debate.

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank him for setting out the rationale behind the Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 and the provisions of same. The Minister of State has clearly communicated these. The provisions are set out in the explanatory memorandum and, in general, I am supportive of it.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank him for his explanation and rationale. I will not delay because we have a lot of work ahead of us. I wish the Minister well and thank him for his work. In particular, I thank his staff, who have supported him in this long, drawn-out process. We have had a lot of engagement so it is now time to roll out the show. The Minister has a lot of work to do on his own policies and plans regarding housing. I wish him well.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I am speaking to amendment No. 19. All 14 of the amendments I will be dealing with, which I will not go into now, are not mine but are the work of the Association of Irish Local Government. They are the result of engagement with the joint Oireachtas committee by members of the association, which represents all parties in this House. It is the work of members of the association. I acknowledge their enormous work and thank them and their executive for the amount of work they did i…

I move amendment No. 19 In page 9, to delete line 18 and substitute the following: “so far as is necessary for the provision of social, affordable and cost rental housing and to achieve the purposes specified in this section, and”.

I will speak to amendment No. 79, which concerns section 75. It states: "In page 49, line 8, to delete 'Minister' and substitute 'relevant local authority'." It is a clerical amendment to change the reference to section 77, which will be amended by our next amendment, No. 84, which we will come to later. As the Bill stands, the Minister may set any percentage he or she wants for the number of houses in a development that will be affordable or cost rental, and we want to change that to make it the decision of the lo…

I do not want to be too provocative but I want to say that I know where Senator Moynihan is coming from. I will use this opportunity to talk about the Phoenix Park. There is vast real estate in the Phoenix Park which I have had the privilege of visiting recently. Many Senators will know that the HSE has St. Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park, which has significant issues with dereliction. There is an old military school, which is empty and derelict. There is a beautiful Anglican church, which is locked up. There a…

Amendment No. 23 is another of the amendments the AILG brought to the joint Oireachtas committee and subsequently wrote to the members asking for their support. It states: In page 12, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(5) The Minister, in giving a direction under subsection (1), shall publish the contents of such a direction in, Iris Oifigiúi l, being the official Irish State gazette, at least one national newspaper and the Agency shall publish on its website the same contents, where a copy of the …

I move amendment No. 23: In page 12, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: "(5) The Minister, in giving a direction under subsection (1) , shall publish the contents of such a direction in, Iris Oifigiúil, being the official Irish State gazette, at least one national newspaper and the Agency shall publish on its website the same contents, where a copy of the direction may be seen at all reasonable times.".

I second the amendment.

I will be brief. I support the amendments on the prohibition of the importation of fracked gas. It is a major issue. The Minister will be aware that many members of his party were very much to the fore in this issue. There is an expectation that he will deliver for them in terms of the political side of this argument. I do not want to go into great detail because I am conscious we have a lot of work to do here today, but that expectation of the Minister is there. I hope he will be in a postilion to accept these ame…

I agree with Senators Lombard and Murphy on agriculture and I thank the Minister. I support the amendment. I acknowledge the work of Senator Paul Daly, in particular. He is a member of the agriculture committee, as is Senator Lombard. Senator Murphy is on the panel. The amendment goes some way towards addressing the issues but we have a hell of a lot of work to do. To endorse what other Senators have said on engagement, the agriculture community, including farmers, did engage with the committee. The difference is t…