The National Vetting Bureau and the Garda vetting Act have been in place for about 14 years. Has the Minister any plans to simplify the administrative burden placed on volunteers and employees through Garda vetting and the bureau itself? Will he make a statement on that given the length of time it has been in place?

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I agree with him that the system was designed to protect young people and vulnerable adults and I appreciate that it must be robust. However, as he has said, it has been segmented and we need a portable system. He mentioned that steps have to be taken. We produced a Bill in 2022 and we were told by the Minister standing in at the time that a body had been investigating the practicalities for some time. We all know that people are getting vetted three, four, five, maybe e…

What we proposed almost four years ago was that the chief bureau officer would establish what we call a register of general consents. The Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers gave great assistance so that people would remain on the register for three years, give their permission and, under section 6, give a general consent to the disclosure of vetting information to any organisation that might require it. At the time, the Minister said the Department must investigate any revetting impact upon constitutional right…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise the issue of the need, or demand, for a suicide crisis assessment nurse. A few years ago, I was speaking to a young man, Stephen McCarthy, who lived about 300 yd from where I live. A woman had seen us speaking, and she asked if she could have a word with him because her son was in school with Stephen. She said she remembered him as a smart, intelligent boy and that he seemed to have a deep sense of fairness, because life had not been fair to Stephen…

I should mention the name of the boy because I have his family's permission. It is Clancylee Casey, who was known as John. He is the boy who is going to be buried. I appreciate the crisis resolution team the Minister of State has put in place in the solace cafés and that there has been an 18% reduction, but the fact remains a lot of people are slow to go to the emergency department. While what she said is welcome, I ask her to review the situation and have a look at putting a SCAN system in place in Kerry. She is c…

I know that the Minister of State does not have it but I also know that it is complete.

Workers and families across the State are being failed on public transport and worker flexibility. These failures are not abstract; they are the lived reality of people across the island. There are commuters wasting hours of their lives in traffic chaos, waiting for buses or sitting in cars as they inch through gridlocked traffic. It is having a tangible, real-life impact on the quality of life for people. Despite years of promises, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have created a system that is defined by delay and stagna…

The first thing I wish to speak about are the ancient wastewater systems in parts of County Kerry. I could list six or seven villages, such as Ballyduff, Fenit, Glenbeigh, Kilcummin, Abbeydorney and Castlegregory in particular, where, in effect, although some progress has been made in Kilcummin, we have a hole in the ground. In Castlegregory, it is within 40 yd of a school building. In Fenit and Castlegregory, it is within 100 yd or so of a Blue Flag beach. The wastewater from those villages is pouring out into a h…

I agree that this is largely technical. As the Minister said, it deals with issues such as the role and appointment of GEOs, their various powers to enter land, the 21-day waiting period, the determination of the form of a safety permit, and the transition or grandfathering provisions. I welcome the fact the Minister is committed to working with Deputies to progress the Bill because some more work will need to be done on it as it progresses through the Houses. On the surface, the Bill does look technical, with the …

Slightly.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 13, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: "(4) The Minister shall cause a copy of any order made under subsection (1) to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and the order shall lapse 6 months after the date it is made unless earlier revoked or expressly continued by a resolution of both Houses.". Mar gheall ar leasú a 3, this proposes to amend the Environmental Protection Agency Act in order to guarantee Oireachtas oversight. It…

Will orders, if any orders are proposed, include it?

On that basis, I will not press the amendment.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 14, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: "(d) publish a notice of the request for an exemption, accompanied by the information provided under subsection (1), on a website maintained by it or on its behalf and in a national newspaper, inviting submissions from the public within a period of not less than 30 days; (e) consider all submissions or observations received under paragraph (d) and publish a reasoned report addressing the material issues raised.". Mar gheall ar lea…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 14, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(4A) In this section, ‘exceptional circumstances’ means circumstances that— (a) arise from a unique and unforeseeable event, or a specific and demonstrable public necessity, (b) cannot reasonably be addressed by compliance with the requirements of the EIA Directive within the timeframe necessary to avert serious risk to human health, safety, the environment or essential public services, and (c) are strictly limited in scope, dura…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 14, to delete lines 31 to 34 and substitute the following: "(b) publish, prior to deciding the application to which the exemption relates, a notice of the exemption, any requirements referred to in paragraph (a), a summary of public and authority submissions, and the Agency’s reasoned conclusions on the main issues raised— (i) on a website maintained by it or on its behalf, and (ii) in a national newspaper,". Mar gheall ar leasaithe a 6, it is to delete lines 31 to 34 and substitute …

I move amendment No. 7: In page 15, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “(d) ensure that information published under this section is accessible, written in plain language, and includes non-technical summaries of likely significant effects and mitigation measures.”. Mar gheall ar leasú Uimh. 7 agus 14, ar leathanach 15, idir líne 4 agus 5, molaim go gcuirfí isteach “to ensure that information published under this section is accessible, written in plain language, and includes non-technical summaries of li…

Mar gheall ar na leasuithe sin, tá muid á dtarraingt. I will not be moving those amendments.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 19, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(4) The Minister may by regulations prescribe periods under subsection (2), having consulted the Agency, and may prescribe different periods for different classes of activity. (5) The Agency shall include in its annual report under section 51(3) the number of cases in which the period under this section was exceeded, the reasons, and corrective actions taken.”.”. Mar gheall ar na leasuithe sin, ar leathanach 19, idir líne 15 agus…

I move amendment No. 11: In page 23, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(d) publish a notice of the request for an exemption, accompanied by the information provided under subsection (1), on a website maintained by it or on its behalf and in a national newspaper, inviting submissions from the public within a period of not less than 30 days, and (e) consider all submissions or observations received under paragraph (d) and publish a reasoned report addressing the material issues raised.”.