Will the Senator take a point?

Perhaps there would be time if the Senator had not spent half an hour making what is, in essence, a Second Stage speech-----

-----that does not really refer to any of the amendments that have been tabled.

Using the Opposition's minority.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I will start by addressing that issue. This Bill has been discussed to an extraordinary extent on Committee Stage. Yes, it was a while ago and the reason for that is because the Minister took away-----

Go ahead, Senator Mullen.

Yes. The Bill has been discussed. I may have misspoken in respect of Committee Stage. The Bill has been discussed extensively in this House. It has been discussed at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice as well. There is no lack of discussion on this subject. Senator Mullen and I have shared platforms in respect of this on a number of occasions. We have been in the media on this on a vast number of occasions - far too many, some might say. There is no lack of discussion on this Bill. The Bill has been schedule…

No, what the Senator disputed is that there is no difference between, let us say, a child born in Africa who is ethnically African and comes to this country and is assaulted in the course of a hate crime, called names, othered and essentially told they are not welcome, and a child who is assaulted because somebody does not like that child's father. There is a fundamental difference between those two things. It is so fundamental that this House and the other House have spent a great deal of time passing an extensive…

When we look at the percentage of the vote and support that you enjoy, Senator Mullen-----

-----relative to what is enjoyed by the Government, then you can start assessing who the people have confidence in.

The second issue Senator Mullen raised was the definition of gender. Again, I have raised it in this House on a number of occasions. There is an expansive, extensive and broad definition of gender in section 3. It is there for a very good reason - because the very people who fall outside the traditional norms of gender in this society are the same people who are repeatedly targeted for harassment and criminal activity due to them being non-gender normative. That is the reason the definition is so wide. That is one …

There is no basis whatsoever for that accusation. The definitions in this Bill specifically relate to the matters that are dealt with in this Bill. Different words are defined differently in various pieces of legislation because they are approached differently. They do not always mean the same thing in different contexts. That is a normal part of legislative practice. It is not unusual. I could give Senator Mullen a list of other words that apply differently in various pieces of legislation – from "public place" to…

I congratulate Senator Mullen on that because he has an opportunity to continue to be offensive after this legislation passes. It is not about Senator Mullen and people being offended, giving offence or taking offence; it is about a legal framework to protect people who have repeatedly been the subject of abuse, harassment and crime in this community. It is about saying to them: we recognise the impact of these criminal actions against them, and we are willing to recognise the fact that it has a deep-seated impact …

That is not what the Bill is about. It does not outlaw giving offence or taking offence. After this legislation passes, even without the hate speech elements of it, it will still be permissible to say things that are offensive. It was never going to be any other way, but Senator Mullen repeatedly suggests that in an attempt to include in his army of misinformation things that are simply not in the Bill. I absolutely reject that. It is important that we talk about these issues but, most important, when we pass this …

That is why there is a definition in section 3.

Once again, you have managed to be offensive without actually contributing to the debate. It is about saying that if a person is part of a group that is repeatedly targeted, we recognise that is a serious matter. It is an aggravating factor and is a crime all of its own. It is appropriate for these Houses to recognise the impact that has on those individuals and to say, if you are going to do that, you will suffer greater consequences before the courts. I do not have a problem with any of that. I have no concerns a…

On a point of order, we are debating the first grouping of amendments, all of which are technical in nature and deal primarily with the name of the Bill. We are now having a rehash of the speech that Senator Mullen made earlier. It is not in order, it does not relate to the amendments that are being discussed and it is repetitive.

The Senator-----

The God-help-us gender.

I will begin by echoing what my colleague Senator Lombard said about planning for schools and making sure parents have certainty about where their children will go. It is very important. In addition to what he said, I know that schools in my area are having great difficulty recruiting teachers to do the work. The space is provided and the facilities are there but they cannot get the teachers, with the result that sometimes teachers are diverted out of special educational needs classes to provide education in mainst…