First, I welcome our guests, particularly our two colleagues in the front who have been here many times in many other debates. I thank the Minister and her predecessor for their engagement on this. In preparing for today, I was conscious I wanted to open with a positive line of thanks to several people. To fill in for those new people who may not have met me or know about me, I speak with some knowledge and lived experience of this issue. I lived in three State institutions in my life as a child. Therefore, there w…

I am trying to be helpful. For clarification, my understanding is that there is one amendment at a time, so there is only one live amendment. The Senator may wish to move it, and if it is agreed, then we go onto the next one and we take them one by one because some people may wish to speak. I have no difficulty with that. Only one amendment is live on the floor at any one time. Would that be the Cathaoirleach's ruling?

We are dealing with amendment No. 1.

I thank Senators Flynn, Black, Higgins and Ruane for this important legislation. They have been pursuing it for a long time. I also welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. Section 1 broadly covers the Bill, so it is quite convenient to cover more or less anything in the Bill when we speak to this section. I commend my colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group for introducing the Bill, which replaces the term "child pornography" in legislation with the term "child sexual abuse material", CSAM. L…

I raise again the issue of the boarded-out children who are now elderly men and women. I have discussed it many times in the House. Sadly, I must report that a man who visited the House many times seeking some sort of redress and acknowledgment unfortunately never got that, as he passed away recently in Galway. His daughter contacted me two or three weeks ago. I had last met them in Gullane's Hotel in Ballinasloe and talked them through it. We thought we had made a breakthrough. Tomorrow, we will be discussing redr…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. As I was looking at the long list of speakers, I did not see her come in. I apologise. It is always great to see the senior Minister in the Seanad. Senators greatly appreciate that. The Minister will have eight minutes to address the House. Group spokespersons will have ten minutes and all other Senators will have three minutes. I will call the Minister to reply not later than 5.38 p.m. The statements are to conclude at 5.45 p.m. I ask that people respect the time. W…

Before we move on, I welcome guests of Senator Costello to the Chamber, namely, Erica Tierney, Muireann McColgan, Niamh Noonan and Ziva Cussen. They are all very welcome, as are the other guests in the Gallery.

Before we move on, I welcome guests of Deputy Louise O'Reilly – members of the Rush senior citizens group. They are very welcome.

I welcome the Probus group from Tullamore, County Offaly.

Next is the Cross-Party Group. Senators Cosgrove and Harmon are down on my list. Senator Noonan wants to speak as well. I think we will have time. I propose that Senators Cosgrove and Harmon take five minutes. We will have another slot. We will fit Senator Noonan in there.

I thank Senator Harmon very much. Before I proceed, I welcome the guests of Senator Curley, namely, Councillor Martin Monaghan and his wife Deirdre. Three more Senators are listed to speak, namely, Senators Blaney, Kyne and Noonan.

I thank the Minister very much for what was a meaningful and constructive debate. We value and appreciate her and her officials coming to the House.

I would love to visit Dubrovnik.

It is a decree.

The Minister is welcome. Before I kick off, I wish him and his colleagues in Bord Bia every success this week for Bloom. I was out there the other day having a look, and tomorrow they kick off with that. I thank the Minister for his collaboration with Bord Bia and hope it will be a fantastic and successful event. Today, I am speaking on and pursuing a call by the IFA president, Mr. Francie Gorman, who has called for the Minister to grant additional powers to the Agri-Food Regulator. The IFA says these powers are ne…

I also welcome the students from Shellybanks. I know some of the students in the school. It is an amazing school. Well done to all involved in it. I thank the Minister. He has given a robust response. He has clearly demonstrated that he is listening to the IFA and others. He referenced the engagement with all stakeholders and that is important. Due process must prevail in all these things. He flagged a possible statutory instrument, which is in his remit and function, or additional legislation or amending legislati…

I have two requests. First, I thank the people from Samaritans Ireland who gave Oireachtas Members a very powerful briefing, with personal testimony of people's experiences. One of the main takeaways was that almost every minute, a person from Samaritans Ireland answers a call for help to its 24-hour telephone service. The organisation made only three asks of politicians. I made a commitment to pursue and advocate for the first of them, which is to prioritise the development of a national loneliness strategy within…

I thank the Leader for facilitating and arranging a briefing today with the Minister of State with responsibility for local government, Deputy John Cummins. It is only an hour and a half, which is somewhat disappointing, but I know that is all he has. Given that a very high percentage of Senators are elected by sitting county councillors, it is very disappointing. If we do not complete our work today, I ask we bear it in mind and have another session when we come back after the recess. It is an extremely important …

I propose to share time with my colleague Senator Joe Conway.

The Minister of State is very welcome. I will not reiterate what others said about his experience as a councillor. Local government remains underutilised, under-resourced and underfinanced. I hope the task force will recommend the devolution of more powers, supports and functions to councils and their elected representatives. I thank the members of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee, including the Cathaoirleach, who worked on this. The committee gave a lot of time to come up with its report. We did not give i…