I thank the Minister of State for her response. In 2021, the then, and current, Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, when he was giving a State apology, said, “It is the duty of a republic to be willing to hold itself to account". He also said that we need to confront the truth and uncomfortable parts of our history. I wonder if those words were empty, because I believe much more action is needed to provide justice for survivors. Survivors need to be absolutely central to any decisions made regarding that site and what will …

I will speak to amendments Nos. 19, 38 and 49 to 52, inclusive. I first state that the detention of a child is not acceptable, as many human rights organisations have said. I have been contacted by so many people even today about this Bill who have serious concerns. People from counties across the country are sending in concerns, such as I am sure have been received by other Senators. Amendment No. 19 would define "measure of last resort" to ensure that non-custodial alternatives are enshrined in the Bill and all a…

I move amendment No. 21: In page 23, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “(2) (a) In the application and interpretation of this Act, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in all matters affecting a person who is a minor or who is presumed to be a minor. (b) In determining for the purposes of subsection (a) what is in the best interests of the child, the following factors shall be taken into account— (i) the views of the child, having regard to the child’s age and maturity, (…

I want to concur with Senator Stephenson's remarks. I respectfully disagree with the Minister's comments that amendment No. 21 would be limiting. It specifically states "the following factors shall be taken into account". It does not say "the following factors only". The factors listed are very relevant. They include: the views of the child, having regard to the child's age and maturity; the child's identity, including their age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality and religion; safety, welfare and development …

I want to raise serious concerns today after watching "Prime Time" last night, on which a student in UCD was interviewed anonymously. This student was assaulted. Later, images surfaced of this assault and of her in a very vulnerable, unconscious, assaulted state. These images were circulated over long periods of time to fellow students in WhatsApp groups and to staff in the university also. This morning, I have written to the chair of the Oireachtas further and higher education committee suggesting that UCD come be…

We will now have statements to mark International Women's Day. I call on the Minister, Deputy Foley, to make her opening remarks.

I welcome to the Gallery the guests of Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and the pupils of Diffreen National School. As is customary, we encourage the teachers to give the pupils no homework for the rest of the week.

I am sharing time with Senator Noonan. International Women's Day is an important time for us to reflect on how far we have come and also celebrate the women in our lives. As the eldest of five girls, I wish my sisters a happy International Women's Day. While I was sitting here in the Chamber before speaking, I was thinking back on the strong women in my life and the women who raised me. I was born to a single mother at the time, Mary Twomey Harmon, in the late eighties. She experienced a huge amount of stigma as a …

Just two weeks ago, the Minister sat in this Chamber for the Second Stage debate on a Bill I tabled that would ensure adequate leave for SNAs and teachers in our schools who are injured in the classroom. That Bill absolutely needs to be progressed to Committee Stage. I look forward to communicating with the Government on that. The past number of weeks have been very turbulent and worrying for so many school communities across the country. SNAs, school staff, parents and, most vitally, children have been disrespecte…

I welcome the Minister here today. I will start by talking about Cork, which is the fastest growing city in Ireland, with a population that will increase by 50% by 2040. This will mean the need for the creation of at least 75,000 more jobs in Cork. There are over 600,000 people living in Cork, and two thirds of those are living within 25 km of the city centre. We are an education city. We have University College Cork, Munster Technological University and many other educational institutions, with a big student popul…

I condemn what is happening in the Middle East and the actions of the US and Israel. It is a failing of the Government that it was not able to condemn the attacks that happened over the weekend. We have a responsibility as a State to be clear on where we stand on such matters. Second, in relation to this, we saw a rise in heating oil prices in recent days. This is a blatant attempt by companies to take advantage of international instability, and the Government has to act. The Labour Party has been clear that the Co…

I welcome the Minister of State. The Government has been in office for over a year now, and over that time we have seen it repeatedly try to act tough on immigration with grandstanding rhetoric. This has included some very worrying comments from our Tánaiste, deflecting from the housing crisis and implying immigration is the reason we have a housing crisis in this country. This is very divisive and concerning, and this Bill is the latest irresponsible step in that pattern. The Government claims it is just aiming fo…

I thank and acknowledge the ambassadors in the Gallery here today. I extend my solidarity to the people of Ukraine for all they have endured because of this invasion and aggression from Russia. The Irish people stand with the people of Ukraine and, on behalf of the Irish Labour Party, I say we stand with them as well. I raise the issue of housing today and in particular, the issue of renters and supports for renters. We saw a new daft.ie report this morning, which shows that rents have increased by 4.4 % over the p…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 6, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “ Review of Act 3 . The Minister shall, not later than 2 years after the passing of this Act, conduct a review of the operation and effectiveness of amendments effected by this Act and shall, not later than 3 months after the end of that period of 2 years, or on the completion of the review, whichever is the earlier, make a report, in writing, to each House of the Oireachtas of the findings of the review and of the conclusions draw…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 6, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “ Impact forecast 3 . The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, but not later than 6 months thereafter, prepare and publish, including publication by electronic means, a statement of forecasts for the following period of 10 years following its publication in respect of the impact of the amendments effected by this Act on market rents for a representative sample of tenancies, together with such other infor…

I welcome the Minister. I put on record my disappointment we are not getting to debate all these amendments because the Government is not allowing that time. We would have been willing to-----

We would have been willing to stay here for the evening if necessary to debate these amendments. I am in favour of amendment No. 7. I am not sure if anyone in the House saw a report launched this week called Renting on the Island of Ireland. It is a piece of comparative research commissioned by Threshold and it highlighted the insecurity tenants face in the Republic. Only 10% of them said they were renting by choice and the worry about evictions was clearly noted. There were dramatic differences with younger cohort…

Cuirim fáilte roimh na feisirí Eorpacha go dtí an Seanad inniu. Gan dabht tá tionchar mór ag polaitíocht na hEorpa ar Éirinn. Gabhaim buíochas leo as an obair atá á dhéanamh acu. It was really interesting listening to the contributions. There were a lot of themes. They included neutrality not equalling ambivalence and the importance of sovereignty for member states in the EU. There have been many attempts to undermine that sovereignty, the EU project and the principles on which the EU project was founded of democra…

I thank the Minister of State for engaging in this debate. Where do we even start with this Bill? We put down sensible amendments in the Dáil from the Labour Party. We are bringing them to the Seanad now as well. I am sure they will not be supported by the Government. We have called for this legislation to be scrapped. We simply do not believe that it supports renters. We do not believe it will work. It sides with big developers, big landlords and vulture funds over the average small landlord and, certainly, it is …

I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.”