I second the proposal.

I welcome the Minister to the House and I support her endeavours on this very important legislation. It is timely and long overdue. There is an enormous amount of support for what the Minister is attempting to do in the Bill. I second the amendment to the amendment. In so doing, I am very much guided by my colleague, Senator McDowell, who is a former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a former Attorney General and a practising senior counsel. There is no real divergence from the Minister in what he is p…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am aware he has not been long in office but anytime I have made contact, he has got back to me. It is a good omen. I also welcome Ms Mary Hurley, assistant secretary, to the House. Ms Hurley was an important player in housing and in Rebuilding Ireland and she is now in local government. The Minister of State has an able person by his side or perhaps he is by her side. I do not know which but they make a formidable team. I wish them well. I also acknowledge the enormou…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to the House. He will not be a stranger to this topic. I am endeavouring to again raise the issue of two e-planning or online planning systems. One of those systems, entitled Plean-IT, is being championed and is supposed to be promoted by An Bord Pleanála. Let us deal with a few facts with regard to the 2016 programme for Government and the current programme for Government. All present are aware that, in spite of a few sceptics, Rebuilding Ireland remains Government p…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. On 29 October 2020, the policy document entitled the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future was published. It talked about planning reform, supporting the planning regulator and IT technologies, which is important. We need to push it on and Covid has brought technology more to the fore. Last week, I made a trip to the office of An Bord Pleanála to deliver two objections for two people because I could not do them online. I went to the post office on Mer…

I welcome the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman. We are going to have to run a tight ship because there are only 90 minutes for this debate. The Senators who have indicated to speak are on a list that has been agreed by the Whips and the leaders. There can be no deviation from the list. I will take the speakers in the order they come. I call Senator Buttimer.

I thank Senator Dooley. I call Senator Black and then Senator Carrigy. That concludes all of the Members offering on the approved list for contributing today.

I thank the Senator. We are keeping well within the time. Earlier today, I said that there was to be one last speaker, Senator Carrigy, but Senator Murphy is also on the official list approved by the whips and the leaders so I will call on him after Senator Carrigy, who has six minutes.

I thank the Senator for his personal remarks. I appreciate them. I acknowledge the Cathaoirleach, who asked me to chair this debate. I consider that a great honour. All Senators have received many emails and letters on this issue, as Senator Murphy mentioned. I received a very moving handwritten letter from Catherine Corless with several photographs accompanying it. I understand she wrote several handwritten letters. I wish to take this opportunity to single her out as a wonderful hero, champion and advocate on thi…

I thank the Minister. We must wrap up at this point.

I apologise to the Senator but I cannot really ask anyone else. Perhaps she can have a word with the Minister afterwards.

That is okay. I thank the Minister. That concludes statements on the report of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank Senators Hoey and Sherlock and all of the Labour Party Senators for proposing this important Bill. I am encouraged that Senators from both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have broadly welcomed it. Seeing it through to implementation is a different test, however, and only time will tell what will happen in that regard. We know there are immense burdens on the Minister. I do not doubt his credentials in terms of his absolute commitment. It is a very difficult time for anyone to …

I thank the Leader for setting out the Order of Business. I want to talk on behalf of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, the nurses' union, and the great work it does. Nurses and midwives are doing an amazing job on the front line in saving the lives of our loved ones in the context of Covid. It is a tragedy. They are physically exhausted. I do not know whether Senators had the opportunity to watch the "RTÉ Investigates" programme earlier this week. We saw nurses say they could not take a break even …

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I have known her a long time. We soldiered together on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, so I, too, know of her absolute commitment to be successful at whatever she does in every walk of political life. She has demonstrated that time and again in her commitments in other areas of politics. I acknowledge that and I welcome her to the House. As the Minister of State is aware, education is about enabling all children in line with their abilities to live full …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for attending. I note the press release that was issued with the half of the Department in which he is referenced. The press release relates to the launching of the Period Poverty in Ireland report. It is timely, wise and pragmatic - whatever we like to call it - that it should be today given what we have on the agenda. I wish to acknowledge some important points that need to be looked at and addressed. It is positive and welcome. I thank Senators Clifford-…

I wish to raise the issue of the supply of affordable housing. Anyone involved in politics, be it nationally or locally, knows the importance of affordable housing. We are now at crisis stage. There are people earning a salary of over €100,000 who are not able to purchase their own home, which is outrageous. There are people who are caught in the rent trap, whereby they are paying substantially more than if they had a mortgage, and they cannot pay it. I welcome the publication by the Government of the draft Afforda…

I second the motion.

I welcome the Minister and wish him well in his work. I am conscious he was invited to the House today to talk about the Department's response to Covid. There is always a temptation to drift into the Minister's wider portfolio, which includes housing, local government, planning and heritage. I will try to avoid doing that because it is clear from today's contributions that we would need a whole session on housing and another whole session on local government. They are two really important issues. I thank the Minist…

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for inviting me to chair this session. I really appreciate that gesture. It is a kind one and it is one I am greatly honoured to take. I am conscious that we need to keep a tight timeframe on what we are doing. To date, 14 people have indicated to speak for six minutes each. One does not need to be a mathematician to know that 14 multiplied by six equals 84. The Minister has at least ten minutes to speak and it is important that we hear him and afford him the time that is necessary. It i…