I am here again today to raise the issue of the boil water notice that has been placed on households and businesses in Macroom. Sadly, it is not an isolated incident. Since 2022, this is the eighth or ninth boil water notice that the people in Macroom have endured. Every couple of weeks the story repeats itself. The boil water notice goes in and families and businesses are massively disrupted. People are left with added expenses, worry and uncertainty about something as basic as clean, safe water. The cost of water…

I thank the Minister of State. I was aware of that. The majority of people in Macroom are aware of the upgrades that Uisce Éireann will be doing. The issue is in the interim, between now and 2026. What seems to be happening is, any time there is really bad weather or flooding, all of a sudden there is a boil water notice. Are we saying to the people of Macroom that they are supposed to continue with this pattern of boil water notices until these upgrades are done? It is going to put people under pressure and out of…

I want to raise a serious issue that concerns the proposed battery energy storage system, BESS, in my constituency in Newmarket in Cork. The proposed site is right beside a sensitive ecological area. It drains into a watercourse that connects to the River Dalua and then onto the River Blackwater, both of which are designated special areas of conservation. These are habitats for species of European importance, including Atlantic salmon, yet the dangers posed by the lithium-ion batteries have not been adequately addr…

The Minister has ten minutes for his opening statement.

Before we move to our first speaker, I welcome Councillor Patrick Meade, Cyril Carter and Paul to the Gallery. They are here with Senator Rabbitte. I call on Senator Joe Flaherty.

Senator Craughwell's time is up.

Before we move on to our next speakers, on behalf of Senator Flaherty, I welcome to the Gallery, Cyril Carter whose father Thomas was a TD between 1921 and 1951. He represented Sinn Féin, Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fáil. Cyril's brother Frank was a TD from 1951 to 1957 for Fianna Fáil. I also welcome Councillor Paddy Meade. Our next speakers are from Sinn Féin and I understand that Senators Murphy and Tully are sharing time. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I offer my sincerest apologies to the Cross-Party Group, which I skipped. It is the first week back. Our next speakers will be from the Cross-Party Group. I believe the Senators are sharing time. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. I am here to speak on the Bill at Second Stage not as a conjurer of statistics but as someone who has listened to parents, clinicians, advocates and young people who have been failed by a system that often treats their crises as an administrative problem rather than a human tragedy. We support the aim for reform. We welcome parts of the Bill, but we cannot, in good conscience, allow a Bill that contains glaring omissions, weak safeguards and a lack of real resourci…

Migration is one of the most important issues facing Ireland today. It touches housing, public services, education, employment and, above all, the type of society that we build. Migration must be managed properly. It cannot be left to the chaos of global markets, nor can it be dictated by the short-term needs of corporations. States have a responsibility to plan migration in a way that serves both the needs of those who come here and the communities that welcome them. Unfortunately, the Government's approach has be…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, lines 26 to 28, to delete all words from and including “a” in line 26 down to and including line 28 and substitute the following: “the court may, on the application of any party to a defamation action in the High Court, or a question of fact or an issue arising in such an action, order that the action or any issue of fact in the action shall be tried without a jury if it is of opinion that such trial— (a) will require any protracted examination of documents or accounts or any tech…

We have talked at length about this amendment but the one thing we have not yet heard is why the Government is proposing this now and why it is being proposed in this legislation. We still do not understand why that is being pressed now.

The disclosure is identifiable.

I propose that the Minister for Social Protection be invited to this House to debate the wage subsidy scheme for people with disabilities. This is a vital initiative that promotes inclusive employment and supports employers who are committed to providing equal opportunities. Currently, the scheme provides a subsidy of €6.30 per hour to non-public sector employees who hire people with disabilities. However, despite the 30% increase in minimum wage rates in recent years, the subsidy rate has remained unchanged. There…

I thank the Minister for being here. It is good to see him back before the House. I am delighted to contribute to the debate on the Defamation (Amendment) Bill. Defamation reform is long overdue. The current framework under the 2009 Act has proven to be expensive, slow and in many ways inaccessible, especially for ordinary people trying to defend their names. However, the Bill in its current form gets one major thing fundamentally wrong. That is the proposal to abolish juries from High Court defamation trials. We s…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I will be sharing time with my colleague, Senator McCormack.

I am holding a copy of my seven-week scan. It is the only evidence I have that my pregnancy ever existed. I am not alone in this. I actually count myself lucky. On 22 March last year, my 31st birthday, I found out that I was pregnant. Whenever any woman finds out that she is pregnant and looks at that positive test, she naturally maps out a life for that child. She maps out his or her future, hopes, dreams, names and all of that. I was very naive about pregnancy and what that entailed because it was my first time. …

What is the point of reference to this Bill?

What is the point of reference to this Bill? This Bill is specifically-----

I thank everyone who contributed and who has been supportive of this from the get-go. I appreciate it. There is a lot of work to do and I am sure we can do a lot of work together. The Minister referred to one in five women and a gestation of 24 weeks. That does not give me a whole pile of hope because it is one in four and the relevant period of gestation has changed to 23 weeks. He also referred to a strategy, but a strategy is only as good as the paper it is printed on if it is not enacted. What the Government is…