Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome guests of the Minister of State, Kieran O'Donnell, and of Deputy Mary Lou McDonald to the Gallery. They are all welcome.

There is a happy Senator.

It is lovely to get a Minister of State finishing the final Commencement matter with good news.

Before I call the Minister of State, I would like to welcome the teachers and students from Gaelscoil Riabhach atá anseo leis an Seanadóir Shane Curley.

Before I call on the Senator to respond, I welcome Fódhla Dunne from Tramore to the Gallery. She is here as a guest of Senator Joe Conway.

Before the Senator's response, I welcome the Meath opportunities for training, MOT, group from Navan, County Meath, and Ashbourne Women's Shed to the Public Gallery. I understand that they are guests of Deputy O'Rourke. They are welcome and I hope they have a lovely day.

I wish the very best of luck and good wishes to Senator Ahearn in his role as Leader of the Seanad. Today, I remember the heavenly birthday of Rory Coady, the son of Craig Coady, who has been a campaigner on Friedreich's ataxia. He, along with 200 other families, are campaigning for a drug approval. They have now been waiting over 840 days for that drug to come through the assessment criteria. The drug company has submitted all of the most up-to-date information required by the HSE. The Minister for Health has done…

The Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, is very welcome to the Chamber this evening. Fianna Fáil welcomes this debate and supports the Bill. The Bill is part of Ireland's commitment to bring our terrorism law in line with those of other EU member states. Fighting terrorism is a top priority for the EU, and in March 2017, the EU adopted a directive on combating terrorism, namely, Directive (EU) 2017/541. The new rules strengthen the EU's legal framework to prevent terrorist attacks and address the phenomenon of foreig…

Is it agreed that Senator Harmon will take her speaking slot now because she has another commitment? If there is agreement from the House, we can facilitate this happening. Is that agreed? Agreed. I call Senator Harmon.

Before moving on, I welcome Deputy Sorca Clarke to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. She is accompanied by Lisa Kirwan, Violeta Bobyleva, Jane Atli, Emma Noonan, Ann Bellew and Mary Murray. They are very welcome and I hope they have a lovely experience here today in Leinster House. We had a school group in from Scoil Íosagáin in Coolgreany, County Wexford who are guests of Deputy Ó Súilleabháin. They have left. I hope they get no homework and are well looked after. Everybody else in the Visitors Gallery is very w…

Before I call the next speaker, I welcome the Now Group to the Gallery on both sides. They all are very welcome. They are guests here today of Deputy Pa Daly. I thank them for being here with us.

I welcome Jason and Joe Poole and David French to the Visitors Gallery. I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of this Bill, which is known as Jennie's law. I welcome that at its heart it rests on a simple principle: when a person is convicted of a serious crime in an open court, that conviction is public and the public are entitled to know what it is about. I acknowledge first and above all, Jennifer Poole and her family who turned the most profound grief imaginable into a campaign for change. Jennie was mu…

I thank the Minister for being here in the House this evening. I will start by seconding everything Senator Dee Ryan said. She gave a comprehensive overview of the work the Minister has done and I want to put on record my support for that. In the two minutes or one minute and 45 seconds I have left, I will focus on student accommodation. I thank the Minister for responding to me last week when I was in a flurry. The Minister I am talking to is continuously responding, and I want to acknowledge that. While I accept …

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House this evening. I also thank him for his comprehensive introduction. I agree that a lot of work has been done in the last 16 months. I thank him personally on the floor of the House today for the time he has given to me in Portumna and for coming down to the site there. Not only did he look at the castle but he also addressed our flooding concerns. That in itself is greatly appreciated. The Minister of State has shown his ability to bring local authorities to the …

I move: That Seanad Éireann: recognises that: - domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a scourge on our society; - we must work collectively to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in our communities, workplaces, political system, and in wider society; - under Zero Tolerance: the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (Zero Tolerance strategy), there has been real, tangible progress across funding, legislation, prevention and victim support; agrees that: - there is…

I thank the Minister. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the motion. I have just come from the justice committee where we also discussed domestic violence, which is fantastic. I thank the Minister and the Department for the work they have put in to ensure that this conversation is front and centre at all times. Unfortunately, it shows the sad state of where we are at but it is important that we have open and transparent conversations on it. The motion recognises that domestic, sexual and gender-based vio…

I thank the Minister very much for his comprehensive response. It is greatly appreciated. Work is being done on the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill and the domestic violence Bill, which will be known as Jennie's law. There are also the plan and the focus for the EU Presidency and the fourth national strategy. It is very welcome to see the work that is ongoing with the Minister and officials in the Department and I recognise it involves not onl…

The Order of Business is No. 1, Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2024 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 12 noon; and No. 2, statements to mark Europe Day 2026, to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and to conclude at 2.45 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed eight minutes and group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes each, time can be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than seven minutes to reply to the debate.

Many Senators made contributions, and there are a lot of responses. Senator Costello referred to her home area of Bohernabreena in the context of fly-tipping and stronger enforcement. It is about respect and protect but we need CCTV brought in. The Senator continued with her advocacy in respect of givinostat. It is great that the young man involved is home after his gene therapy treatment, but I hear what the Senator is saying. The commercial office and manufacturer are discussing price at the moment. The Minister …