I support the Order of Business. I particularly welcome that we are taking the Government motion relating to the proposal that the report of the Dublin Citizens' Assembly be referred to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, of which I am a member, but we need to be clear about something. I do not know the motive behind the Government motion other than the words that are before us today. It is important that we do not repeat, reconsider or rehash what the citizens' assembly has done because …

I thank the CEG for a very important and timely motion. I do not want to talk too much about the motion, which the members of the CEG have done justice and spoken well about. I want to focus some of my time on the Government's amendment. I am disappointed. The amendment is not necessary. I thought the Seanad would speak with one voice, collectively, on this issue, given our commitments and the importance of the House. This is an important amendment for the Seanad. I tuned into the debate from my office before I cam…

I would like to continue on the commentary of the previous Senator. Mr. Cussen is a regular attender of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, on which all parties in this House are represented. I do not suggest he comes into the Seanad. We have a very strong, active, robust and proactive committee that has members. He is subject to regular questioning, it is cast on the web, and the councillors are aware of every single meeting of the committee because I personally send them a li…

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy James Browne.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to the House for what is a particularly interesting Commencement matter. It relates to a Private Members' Bill that I tabled in the House and about which we had an extensive debate. The legislation in question was the Registration of Wills Bill 2021 and the debate took place on 6 October 2021. Before I go into the central plank of what we were trying to achieve, I will say that the relevant Minister, Deputy Humphreys, came to the House and committed on the record…

There is a lot in that. I do not have a copy of the Minister of State's script, so I would need to go away and consider it. However, it falls a bit short. I had to raise the Bill in the form of a Commencement matter in order to even get that response. I sought to engage, and I have a list of letters and correspondence from the Department. There was to be a meeting. It was cancelled and there was no engagement or follow-up in respect of a series of emails. We are where we are. As a result of tabling a Commencement m…

That is not the Minister of State's fault.

Before I call on the Minister of State I would like to welcome the pupils of Carrabane National School in Galway. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their day in the Seanad. We are currently taking Commencement matters. Senators submit various topics for debate and four are chosen. The relevant Minister or Minister of State comes in and responds. The Senator raising the matter has a four-minute slot in which to do so. In this case, it is Senator Wall. The Senator has set out his issue. The Minister of Stat…

I join others in acknowledging the enormous work of Senator Conway. I also acknowledge Breege, who is not here now. They really are a double act. Anyone who knows them or who has met them will know of their enormous commitment to a range of charitable deeds but particularly to the National Council of the Blind in which they are directly involved. Senator Conway has done a considerable amount of work there. For many years I was a director of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. I am still very active in that charity.…

I welcome the family of Senator Jackman to the House. I also welcome the Ministers of State and Senators for our tribute to Mary Jackman. In a few simple words, Mary Jackman was a lady of great charm, great personality and great style. I first came to know her when I was not very involved in politics. I was on the edges of it. I was involved in an education advocacy group in Dún Laoghaire for people who were coming out of prison and had fallen out of education at the age of 15 because they had no supports. Mary Jac…

I welcome the Minister and thank her for being here and for listening to the contributions at the previous session and today. She has an unenviable task in bringing forward this legislation. We need clarity and less ambiguity around anything to do with this legislation. I will be clear. We absolutely need hate crime legislation. There is no question about it. We are coming from the premise that the legislation is needed. There is an issue about its interpretation, including about the definition of "hatred". The Uni…

They are synonymous.

The branding is working well.

I am both.

I thank Senator Garvey and her Green Party colleagues for bringing this topic to the floor of the House for debate because it is an important one. I always scratch my head and think about how the Senators on the other side of the House are in government and, as I said here the other day on the Order of Business when we were talking about the number of issues that arise, how those Senators have parliamentary party systems and lots of opportunities to engage. They even have a programme for government. That is not to …

I second the amendment.

I support the amendments tabled by Senators Ruane, Higgins, Black and Flynn. I thank them very much for the really extensive work they have done on this legislation to this point. I want to touch on two of the amendments, Nos. 18 and 19. Amendment No. 18 relates to the experiences of mixed-race children in Irish institutions. At the end of the day, there was downright racism. The institutions were State institutions and most were under State control, and we now have a situation in which there is nothing relevant in…

I welcome the Minister. This is a very important Bill, which, while technical in nature, boils down to two things, as the Minister rightly said. It is down to the veterinary medicines and medicated animal feedstuffs, which are clearly very important, and it is down to fertilisers. What are we down to? We are down to animal health, public health, the health of our soils and the environmental initiatives. There has been cross-governmental collaboration on this legislation. I welcome that. There was a requirement in t…

As I was listening here today, I was somewhat amazed by the contributions. It is always great to sit in on the Order of Business because one sees that varied array of asks, while remembering that the majority of this House is in government. I am always amazed on a Thursday morning to listen to "Morning Ireland" and hear, "Well, usually on Wednesday, they tell you what they are going to tell you at the parliamentary party because of their leaks and, on Thursday, they will tell you what the officials said about it." …

-----it is particularly interesting that one has that other layer. That is not a criticism, and I am learning from the listening and engagement.