I appreciate that the Department oversees the funding of arts but there is a significant gap in the sense that the Department's budgets operate on a 2026 basis but the laws upon which these events occur date from 1996. That creates a problem. There is a gap in terms of regulation. If you have an event in Dublin, you have the same event in Galway and you have a similar event in Cork, you are dealing with different processes, different licensing and different paperwork. That creates gaps for people who only want to p…

I am talking about updating events' codes, which are 30 years outdated. The Minister referenced the Department of housing, which has responsibility for planning and the Department of enterprise. He said surely I would not wish to interfere with local authorities but that creates a gap for those who wish to put on live events. There are very significant discrepancies between holding an event in one county and holding an event in another county. Deputy O'Donovan is the Minister with responsibility for arts and cultur…

They do not have an event code.

They do not have an event code.

Sorry-----

-----the question states, "codes of practice for live events, particularly live music events, to better facilitate live music performance; and if he will make a statement on the matter." The Minister went off on a tangent from the question.

I thank Deputy Rice for the dedication and vision he has brought to this most important issue. There is a postcode lottery when it comes to accessing effective doctor care within our system. To give context, the national benchmark is one GP per 1,759 people. In my constituency of Dublin Central, it is dramatically higher. In the north inner city, for example, it is one GP for every 3,525 people. In Cabra-Glasnevin, it is one GP for every 3,060 people. In my constituency, particularly in the north inner city part of…

It would be completely wrong to reframe this as some form of simple communication problem. This is a systematic policy failure. Successive governments have designed a model that narrows how care is defined. It signed off on it and allowed letters to be issued. When the schools and the parents rightfully reacted, suddenly everyone seemed to be taken by surprise. Absolutely nothing about this was surprising. You cannot tighten SNA thresholds in overcrowded classrooms and pretend that nothing else will be impacted. Yo…

Get to the vote.

Who is supporting it?

I am not opposed to this amendment at all. My point is probably more relevant to the next amendment, but heaven knows if we will ever get there. Of course, we should have transparency in relation to contracts, but that should be the lowest bar. Our position is that we should be moving towards State-owned reception centres. I fear that supporting an amendment such as this enshrines privatisation into the system, which is something I absolutely could not support.

We voted against the last amendment because we feared it would enshrine privatisation in the system. We make no apologies for that. We are dealing with a Bill that enshrines the detention of children in the system. When we talk about introducing a per person cap, we present the image that asylum seekers are somehow being kept in the lap of luxury. There is rightfully a lot of talk about profiteering. From the foundation of the State, it has always monetised other people's poverty and oppression. However, we are not…

I move amendment No. 20: In page 28, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(14) The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in the carrying out of procedures in respect of a minor under this Part, in accordance with Article 14(1) of the Eurodac Regulation.”.

I move amendment No. 21: In page 32, to delete lines 14 to 18. In the first instance, I will speak about amendment No. 21. Let me quote the subsection of the Bill I am seeking to remove so we will have a sense of it. It provides: Where a member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister has reasonable grounds for believing that it is in the interests of public policy or national security for an applicant to whom paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (4) applies to be subject to the obli…

Before the Minister came in, the Minister of State talked about being a true democrat and about the Government having a democratic right to legislate. Nobody is refuting that. However, if the Minister knocked at any door in this country, as all of us across the Chamber do, who would ask that a victim of trafficking be compelled to go to a screening centre? There is no obligation on that. Screening procedures are not designed to ensure early trafficking detection. There are no clear referral pathways in the Bill to …

In the first instance, a victim of trafficking will be identified by their vulnerability assessment. That is provided for under the special reception conditions. I am surprised the Minister did not know that. Given the day that we had today in the Dáil when another State apology was made, I cannot help thinking of the words of Christine Buckley. I am sure most of us around the Chamber remember the incredible work of Christine Buckley, who shone a light into one of the darkest corners in this State and finally deliv…

I reiterate that the screening procedures, as designed, are not designed to ensure early detection of human trafficking and modern slavery. There is also no clear referral pathway in the Bill in regard to the national referral mechanism. That is really important because I think something that has not really been understood yet in the 13 hours we have given to this Committee Stage is that this Bill comes into law on 12 June. The Minister does not yet have the multi-annual national referral mechanism set up for victi…

You have indeed but for a very worthy cause. The Minister will remember the justice committee in the last Dáil. If he was sitting now where we are, I wonder if he would accept that this is an effective way of doing business or passing legislation. Regardless of whether we agree with it, we all agree that it is some of the most important legislation that will come before the Chamber over this Dáil term. There are 276 amendments from across the Opposition and from the Minister to be considered throughout the course o…

There are 267 amendments on the Bill, of which I tabled over 90. It would be important if speakers could stick to their own amendments or the section. Otherwise we will be here all night and we will not get through it.

I will be brief. What exactly is the plan for the common travel area? Could the Minister of State outline that in his response? I would be grateful if I knew whether Deputy Carthy's amendment will be supported. We have had so much conversation about the International Protection Bill and the transposition of the EU pact but I have yet to hear a Government Minister or TD lay out for me exactly what is the arrangement when it comes to the common travel area. It is obviously not provided for in the Bill that has been p…