I offer a warm welcome to the deputy ambassador from Greece and my sympathies to the ambassador, Ekaterini Simopoulou. I had a wonderful trip to Athens last week as part of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations so it is great to see our colleagues in the Chamber. Of late, there have been a number of calls for the reopening of midlands bogs as a solution to rising energy costs but these calls are counterproductive, divisive and unhelpful. My colleague, Councillor Hazel Smyth, was the only councillor in her municipal di…

Am I coming in ahead of someone else?

I think I may have skipped about two people.

I need to speak doubly quick now or I will run out of time. Our economic system is having detrimental impacts on our planet. While the current crisis in Ukraine is first and foremost a humanitarian crisis and we cannot and must not lose sight of that reality, it highlights nonetheless just how quickly difficulties can arise when our needs are dependent on imports. The past few months, indeed days, have highlighted our reliance on imported energy, food, fertiliser and animal feed. This has brought into sharp focus h…

Are there many before me? I do not mind-----

I will also speak about International Women's Day. I believe it should be a time of review and reflection. Typically, it fills me with hope and renewed commitment to the cause of equality. This year's theme, break the bias, certainly hammers that home. I am also using this week to reflect on lessons learned from some of the amazing women from the midlands I have had the privilege to meet in my roles as Minister of State, Senator and a member of my community. They include women who have overcome personal tragedy to …

Yes I will take those amendments as grouped. The effect of these amendments taken together appears to be to expand the scope of the points system for masters provided for under the Bill currently, to encompass masters who are citizens of another member state, as distinct from Irish citizens. The amendments would require, in effect, that the Minister would have to set up a register to cover all masters from all EU member states and that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority would have to assign points to masters wh…

I thank the Acting Chairperson and Senators for their constructive contributions on the Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021. I and the Government appreciate their constructive engagement. Implementation of the points system is very urgent given the long delay since 2012, the ongoing EU infringement proceedings and the suspension of funding by the European Union through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, EMFF. Ireland is the only member state at this stage without a functioning master's points …

I welcome Ambassador Cronin and our MEP colleagues, Billy Kelleher and Seán Kelly and, in particular, my party colleague, Grace O'Sullivan, whose seat I was most fortunate to take in the by-election following her election to the European Parliament. I want to address the subject of the EU just transition fund, which we are finalising and will submit to the Commission very soon. I take this opportunity to remind the MEPs that the most northerly county in their constituency, County Offaly, is one of those counties mo…

Yesterday, Offaly County Council was pushed to provide safe houses for victims of domestic violence. It was asked to do so out of its housing allocation as a matter of urgency but the council's response was that it needed more time. I understand anyone's plea for more time but when we face a crisis, time is often something of which we have little. Recently, I met with Offaly Domestic Violence Support Services and it is obvious that victims do not have any more time. They cannot wait; this cannot wait. People in the…

I thank my Seanad colleagues for the invitation to speak today. I also welcome Deputy Cahill to the Seanad. I very much welcome the detailed consideration that went into this report. I and my Department have had several engagements with the committee since the report's publication last March, and we have updated members on the steps being taken to address the recommendations made. The most significant step in dealing with the challenges the forestry sector faces, as identified in the report, has been the establishm…

I do not know about that.

It is important to say this is enabling legislation. Not one tree will be planted under this legislation until the scheme is in place. That is important to know. Any trees planted outside of the scheme, if the area is more than 0.1 ha, will be subject to the regulations and the legislation under the current Forestry Act. To speak to Senator Higgins’s points, which I understand and take on board because many of them are valid, I can assure her that, for the past year and a half since I have taken office, I have not …

In terms of tracking, currently all areas are mapped and visible as forestry parcels are planted and that will continue under any such scheme we introduce. As the Senator is aware EU law trumps domestic law and we have engaged with the legal advice not only in my Department but in the Office of the Attorney General, who feels that it is acceptable to conduct the scheme, and make the scheme subject to SEAs and AAs. The points the Senator has raised are valid and will be included in the scheme. To include a list of t…

No, we are still satisfied regarding the suggestions in this amendment and in a later amendment of Senator Higgins in which there is a rather exhaustive, and absolutely justifiable, list, but they all belong in the regulations and not in the primary legislation.

Briefly, there have been a number of issues covered in relation to section 4. I want to thank the Senators for proposing this. I know we are not talking to the amendments, but I am generally supportive of the policy objectives of the Senators here. The policy point is important. My Department is already working on a proposal that is very much in keeping with the amendment which the Senators have proposed but is not before us. I expect it to reach the Oireachtas in the coming months. I hope that the Senators can acc…

Do I have to wait until we get there, even though people spoke to this section?

I thought they spoke on the EIA.

Will I stop there?

That is fine. Will I wait until we get to the section in question? I already spoke about the question of redundancies.