I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 11 be taken before No. 1, in order for me to introduce my Bill entitled the Public Health (Antacid Products) Bill 2024. The Bill proposes that warning notices be displayed in places that are selling and supplying antacid products. It is a vital warning, I would submit, concerning the danger of prolonged use of such products. Individuals should go to the GP to investigate the matter at the earliest. Unfortunately, over 70% of people in Ireland wait over three…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide, in respect of antacid products sold or otherwise supplied, for warning notices to be displayed where such products are sold or otherwise supplied and so sold or supplied other than solely by way of wholesale, to provide for the failure to display such a notice, to provide for authorised officers and their functions and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.

It has been over a year since the stand-off over the lands at Castletown. We have had different Ministers involved and various approaches and numerous diplomatic initiatives have been taken. Unfortunately, none has worked to date. It is almost like the more things change, the more things remain the same. Going down the road of blaming people and attributing fault will not resolve this issue. It is deeply frustrating when we are told we allegedly have a willing purchaser and a willing seller who is happy to sell the…

On behalf of the Green Party group, I wish to convey our deepest sympathy to the family of the late Councillor John Naughten. The family is highly respected and has contributed a great deal to the Oireachtas. They are a family full of decency and integrity and we would like to express our deepest sympathy to Denis, John's family and all concerned at this dreadful time. The horrific loss of life in Gaza and Lebanon is reported all the time. However, it is so important that we do not become immune. The Netanyahu regi…

I am one of many who campaigned to retain the House. At that time I did not realise I would later become a Member of the House. I have witnessed the House in operation up close and realise the great, invaluable work we do under the radar, but also the huge, unfulfilled potential. Naturally, I welcome any reform. Reform comes drippingly slow. The irony is not lost on me that we start to reform the most democratic cohort of the Seanad first. The reality is not lost on me either that it is the result of a High Court c…

Now.

I ask the Green Party group leader to lead off.

I thank the Acting Chairperson. When the Seanad debated my Bill on Second and Committee Stages, it was known then that Ireland had a significant population of Apis mellifera mellifera , a subspecies that used to be very common in northern Europe but was rapidly becoming extinct. Ireland is one of the last strongholds because the bee has become so endangered in other places. Our native bee lives in the wild, which is a very rare occurrence across Europe. The precious population had come under threat, however, from a…

I seek leave to take No. 12 on the agenda before No. 1. I formally request that the Order of Business be so amended. That will permit me to introduce my Bill entitled Planning and Development (Stationary Battery Energy Storage Systems) Bill 2024. Currently, battery energy storage systems, BESSs, do not require an environmental impact assessment, EIA, as they are not listed in annex 1 or 2 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. Grid-scale BESSs, are a relatively new technology since 2012 and some of the projects …

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend and extend the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 to include in the classes of development requiring an environmental impact assessment report certain installations of stationary battery energy storage systems, and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.

I seek leave of the House to take No. 13 on the Order of Business before No. 1 so that I can introduce and publish my Bill entitled transport (vehicle registration plate suppliers) Bill 2024, which will provide for some much-needed regulation in the area of manufacturing, selling and supplying vehicle registration plates. In its investigation of criminal activity, An Garda Síochána has encountered, including in County Kildare, what is known as number plate cloning, which is cloning and identity theft that implicate…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the regulation of persons who manufacture, sell or otherwise supply vehicle registration plates and for that purpose to provide for the establishment by the Minister for Finance of a register of persons who manufacture for sale or supply, or who sell or supply, such plates and to provide for the keeping and maintaining of such register; to enable that Minister by regulations to require such persons to keep records of such manufacture, …

Next Tuesday.

I seek leave from the House to introduce a Bill entitled the Domestic Violence (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2024, which proposes to amend the Domestic Violence Act 2018 in relation to the offence of coercive control, by extending the meaning assigned in section 39 of the Act to the term "relevant person" in order to broaden the definition of "relevant person". The current range of relationships covered by section 39(4) has been described by Dr. Fergus Ryan as "quite narrow" and is confined to relationships that can be …

It has to be enacted and the Government is slow and stalling that. There is no reason to stall the legislation. This is a murderous regime, directed by a bloodthirsty leader, who clearly places no value on life. Israel is a rogue state purporting to be a democratic one. It has long since abandoned the rule of law. It is a blatant hypocrisy to treat Israel any differently from North Korea or Russia. I request a debate on the occupied territories Bill. I want to know the reasons we are not progressing that faster. Th…

Hear, hear.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Domestic Violence Act 2018 in relation to the offence of coercive control by extending the meaning assigned in section 39 of that Act to the term "relevant person" and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.