Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Teach. Like Senator Gallagher, I welcome the proposal for the opt-in. As the Minister said, this was initiated at the Council of Europe, as opposed to the European Union, in its secondary legislation, or what is referred to as a non-legislative enactment, which I understand is on a par with the statutory instruments with which we would be more familiar. As Senator Gallagher outlined, crime is evolving, and crime protection measures need to evolve with crime. Co-operation with ou…

I welcome the Minister to the House. We will resume on amendment No. 20 to section 22 and I believe Senator McDowell has the floor.

Sula dtiocfaimid ar ais chuig an Seanadóir Black, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh na daltaí ó Balbriggan Educate Together. I welcome the pupils of Balbriggan Educate Together, who are here as guests of Deputy Louise O'Reilly. As is tradition here in the Seanad, there is no obair bhaile, no homework, for today or tomorrow.

Before we suspend, I wish to welcome guests of Deputy Robert Troy from Derry and a second group from Balbriggan Educate Together. As we said to the earlier group, there is no homework following your visit to the Seanad. That is a tradition here.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht teacht isteach sa Teach chun an rún a phlé. On the correction made by Senator Flynn, the amount involved is actually in excess of €31,000, as the Minister of State indicated.

It is €31,000. Senator Flynn began her initial contribution by saying she felt she understood the role of a councillor better than anybody else in this Chamber and that she admired the courage of those who put their names forward in local elections, which she did not do. Many in this Chamber have done that and have served as councillors. With the greatest of respect-----

With respect-----

With respect, who better can understand the role of a councillor than those who have served as councillors?

I welcome the involvement of the local authority representative associations, including the AILG, of which I was a member for the entire duration of my time as a councillor, as was my colleague beside me Senator Brady and our colleague Councillor Anna Grainger, who is in the Gallery. The AILG does great work in representing councillors. It is also true to say that the Association of Irish Local Government has three of the 14 representatives on the local democracy task force and that LAMA, which is represented here …

It must have been millions.

Senator Andrews was a Government Deputy at the time.

I dtosach báire ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Richmond, atá anseo anocht chun an rún seo a phlé. I know that this is an area in which the Minister of State has a particular interest and an area in which he has done a lot of work. It is great to see him here this evening. As a member of Fine Gael, the united Ireland party, I welcome this evening's motion on Irish unity and the continued discussions relating to the huge amount of preparatory work that needs to be done to pave the way fo…

I understand Senator Tully is sharing time.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

If there is nobody else offering, I call Senator Murphy, the proposer, to conclude the debate.

When is it proposed to sit again?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I often think of the seanfhocal "Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí" when dealing with and interacting with young people, particularly young people involved in community groups and organisations, because young people are the future of our society, and our clubs and organisations. We need them to participate for our organisations to survive and thrive. I was recently contacted by Ms Bebhinn Lombard, the Munster regional organiser of Young Fine Gael, about an issue of concern that has arisen on the campus of UCC pertainin…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I promised some latitude.

I welcome the former Senator, TD and Minister Paudie Coffey, Paul Fox and Belén Martí from Edwards Lifesciences. They are all very welcome to the Chamber. I hope they enjoy their visit to Leinster House.