I welcome the Minister. I also welcome the members of Young Fine Gael who are in the Gallery. I agree with the Minister and previous speakers regarding the active engagement of young parties. I remember my early involvement in politics many years ago. It was either after Garret FitzGerald was in office, or around his time. One of the great things about it was that there was not a week that went by when there was not something being said about the rebels in Young Fine Gael who were stirring it up somewhere and were …

-----but I think there was something in that. That should be commended. In the media this morning, I read something that suggested the Minister has recommended that the Government does not oppose the amendment that would make drink spiking a new offence, but added that the subject needs further consideration before the Bill becomes law. That was attributed to the Minister, and I take it from his nod that it is correct. That is common sense. That is the great thing about the Seanad; we can polish up legislation, imp…

The amendment will be withdrawn.

I concur with Senator Ó Donnghaile. I support what he said. He set out the case very clearly. What he and his colleagues are trying to achieve is self-evident. I rise to speak in support of the amendment.

I move amendment No. 124: In page 5, line 6, after “circumstances” to insert “and historical actions”. I acknowledge the clarification and the setting out of the reasons various amendments were ruled out of order. I have no difficulty with that. It is ironic that after all of the amendments I tabled, only two were accepted, namely, the first and the last. That is interesting. This amendment seeks to add the words "historical actions" to the Title of the Bill. When I sat down earlier with a pen and paper, I thought …

The Minister has set out his reasoning clearly. That is his position and that is all fine. He spoke of recognising experiences. I think we need to say "some" experiences. We have not covered all the experiences. The Minister has listened so often to the victims. This is not comprehensive legislation, as he accepts. There are shortcomings; one cannot capture everything. I understand that. I have talked all along about parallel processes to this Bill and we can look at those in the future. It is important to send out…

I ask the Acting Leader to arrange a debate on the forestry sector. It is long overdue. We receive a dashboard from the forestry division in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine every month and it makes for startling results. Forestry in this country is in crisis and we need to do something about it. The national forestry policy was launched last year and then we heard of the need for a formal state aid notification and application to the European Commission. After months and months of debate at the O…

May I comment on the ruling out of order of these amendments?

I will speak on the section. It is important people outside understand this. I put down 12 amendments relating to section 24. They all related to the insertion of the words "maternity hospital". I want to thank the people who engaged externally for me. They were professional people who are very involved in advocacy and the legal advocacy around this Bill. They will be very well known to the Minister. They asked that this be put in and we teased it out at great length. I saw the advice that came with them. The decis…

I will be brief because I believe Senator Black articulated that very well. This is a particularly important amendment. It comes from a great deal of engagement. I thank Senator Higgins, who cannot be with us today. We have talked so much about racial discrimination in recent years. Historically, we know that many children in care suffered racial discrimination. When we have engaged with such people, we have found that they were deeply hurt and damaged by their experiences, but this was an added layer. There was a …

I thank the Minister for that response. To avoid misunderstanding, am I to take it that he is receptive to the idea that if there were to be litigation the Government and the Department are open to looking at that if there are ramifications? I am conscious of the separation of powers and all that. We cannot anticipate what is going to happen. If we have no indication yet, we can take it there is going to be a bit of a lead-in time. What people are saying is they need that assurance. They feel they have not got the …

I welcome all the guests to the House. I know some of them. This amendment is especially important. I will speak to amendment No. 114, which was tabled by Sinn Féin. Themes have recurred throughout this Bill. This is an especially important aspect of it. Given the nature of the Bill, particular issues are in focus. The amendment suggests that "within six months of the passing of this Act, [the Minister shall] prepare and lay before Dáil Eireann a report on the operation of the Mother and Baby Institution Payments S…

I will speak to the section. The Cathaoirleach ruled one particular amendment out of order. I will not reopen that issue because it would not be appropriate for me to do so. I fully respect parliamentary democracy.

I am not discussing that matter.

I am happy. I just want to talk about amendment No. 111, which was ruled out of order. The Cathaoirleach is the chairperson and I have no difficulty with that. Before today, the Cathaoirleach invited me to come and discuss the issue with him and tease out the issues. I acknowledge that, to be fair to the Cathaoirleach. He has a job to do. We operate under standing orders, which I fully accept. The Cathaoirleach was not here earlier when I made a point of clarification that it was not the Minister who ruled any amen…

I am happy to engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, on the matter I am raising.

Yes.

Can it be taken now?

I thank the Minister of State. He mentioned his constituency of Kildare South, which I know well. He is very welcome to the House. He is the obvious person to be responding to this matter. It will not be a difficult task for him because it falls obviously within the competence of his commitments in agriculture. That is what this issue is about. I was surprised that a Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine dealt with all the other Commencement matters, which were not related to agric…

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response. I knew it would come from him because he is totally immersed in agriculture. Let us keep having ongoing public engagement and consultation with the horticulture sector and the equine sector, as the Minister of State rightly pointed out. He would be very familiar with that, coming as he does from south County Kildare. There are real challenges and we see it in the mushroom sector too. Let us utilise people who are willing and prepared, regardless of thei…