I move amendment No. 93: In page 10, line 37, after "continue" to insert ", only for a period of two months,".

I move amendment No. 95: In page 10, after line 39, to insert the following: "(4) The Minister shall revisit the appointments to the Forestry Appeals Committee in order to ensure the independence and requisite expertise and experience of the Committee, particularly in respect of environmental legislation, water quality, biodiversity and climate considerations, within a period of two months of the coming into operation of section 3 and/or section 4.".

I move amendment No. 96: In page 10, after line 39, to insert the following: "(4) The Minister shall cause a report to be laid before the Oireachtas within two weeks following the new appointment to the Forestry Appeals Committee and support a debate in the Oireachtas on the matter.".

I move amendment No. 98: In page 11, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "Regulations supporting conduct of Forestry Appeals Committee 7. The Minister, prior to the commencement of section 3 and 4, shall provide for regulations necessary to support the conduct of the Forestry Appeals Committee with regard to: (a) screening for environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment; (b) environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment; (c) ensuring compliance by the Forestry Appeals Committ…

Okay. I would like to hear the Minister of State's response.

I move amendment No. 99: In page 11, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "Publication of licencing and appeals decisions 7. The Minister, prior to the commencement of section 3 and 4 , shall provide for the establishment of a mechanism to publish, on a website maintained by or on behalf of the Minister, the following: (a) the Minister’s licensing decisions, including the reasons and considerations for the decision, any conditions imposed and the reasons and considerations for those conditions, and any r…

I move amendment No. 100: In page 11, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "Review of operation and effectiveness of Act 7. Not later than 30 January 2021, the Minister shall— (a) review the operation and effectiveness of this Act and the effect of its provisions, including: (i) considering the effect of any fees imposed on the accessibility of the appeal mechanism; (ii) detailing the rationale for any fees imposed; (iii) any issues encountered with the provisions; (iv) the status of regulations provided…

I welcome the Minister of State. It is a special day for her for a range of reasons. She is the Minister of State, and as someone said earlier, very few Senators become Ministers. She is also a Green Minister of State. That is very significant and will be a central part of my contribution. I will begin by thanking a few people. I thank the Library and Research Service team, which has had great difficulty with this Bill. It wrote to us yesterday to say it was not able to present us with a paper because it had not ha…

I thank the Leader for presenting the proposed Order of Business for our consideration today. I second Senator Norris's proposed national screening advisory committee Bill. I acknowledge what Senator Chambers said in respect of the minors in Lesbos. It is important. I lived in Greece for a number of years myself; they are a remarkable and resilient people. It is beholden on all of us as European citizens to play our full and active part. It is something we should consider in more detail and I thank Senator Chambers…

I second the proposal.

We are fortunate to have two capable and qualified candidates for the post. I am the leader of the Independent group and I will share with the House a discussion we had. Some of us chatted the other day when there was talk or speculation of three candidates from Fine Gael. A number of us suggested that if Fine Gael did not propose Senator Joe O'Reilly then we would propose him. I shared that with him yesterday. I know Senator Warfield. He has an exceptional record but on this occasion we will vote for Senator Joe O…

It is not true.

I concur with the previous speakers. Today we deal with very important legislation, the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill 2020. Let us hope we do not have a reoccurrence of what happened in the Lower House yesterday. I appeal to all democrats to support open, healthy discussion. As a revising chamber, it is our job to revise legislation and to look at all amendments and to give them serious consideration. It should be remembered that it was not too long ago that half of the Government were on the opposite be…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. He has a very difficult task. I am particularly interested in local government. For the past four years I sat on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government and I would like to sit on it again. There is a lot more work to do. Fine Gael has been in government for nine years and with no disrespect to the Minister of State, I am quite tired of people coming in here talking about a programme for Government. My colleague, friend and Senato…

I listened to what the Minister of State had to say in his reply to Second Stage. I am not going to get excited by it but I would suggest that he did not hear what we were proposing or anything from me. I do not like to get too personal so I will not do so and will talk through the Chair. This is a process. There are five Stages in a Bill. If the Minister of State has plenty of time and wants to hear plenty, I am happy to stand here and talk for a long time. I am standing in solidarity with other Senators and I sup…

I do not want to be fighting with the Minister of State and I genuinely look forward to working with him. I also look forward to being on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government. I do not know if I will be a member of that committee but I hope to be and will do everything I can to make that happen. I think I have a strong record on housing, planning and local government so I just want to say again what I have said before. It is important that we get this right. The great thing about…

Last week, I spoke about the cervical cancer scandal. I requested that we look at it and asked that a Minister attend here. Since I spoke there was an article in the Sunday Independent by Vicky Phelan. For those who may not have read it, she wrote a compelling and moving appeal to what she described as those in power - the people in the Houses of the Oireachtas. Sadly we do not have Vicky Phelan as a voice on the benches of either of these Houses, which is a discussion and a conversation for another day. Vicky felt…

I listened to some of the contributions outside the Chamber and it has been a good debate. I warmly welcome the Minister to the House and wish her well in her Ministry. These are difficult times for anyone in government. Issues have to be addressed head-on, hard decisions have to be taken and the ramifications of those decisions have to be taken on board. Ministers are expected to come to the Dáil. I am always reminding people that it is not the Seanad that holds the Government to account but the Dáil. I thank the …

I warmly welcome the Minister. We worked closely together for many years on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. I am a native of Kildare and I have never heard more name checks of that county by a man from Monaghan. It always amazes me in the House when we keep referring to our constituencies. Most people who come in here seem not to want to be here. They talk about their constituencies but we do not have Dáil constituencies. We are national politicians and Senators. Sometimes it is a pity that we lose that. Let…

This has been a very positive debate. I welcome the Minister to the House and wish her well in what will be a difficult and challenging task. I have no doubt that the people who made the choices knew of her ability and record. I wish her well in what will be difficult times ahead. Having looked at the Bill and listened to the contributions to the debate, I welcome the legislation before the House. While it is a minor step, it is progressive and it marks the beginning of the modernisation of the justice system. Ther…