It is nice to see a Longford man in the Leader's chair today. With budget day only days away, we are witnessing a government establishment desperately trying to convince the public that Ireland is thriving but, away from the spin and the smooth press conferences, the reality on the ground for ordinary working people is one of absolute survival. Let us look at what happened on Sunday in Moate, County Westmeath. I know the Acting Leader was there. Thousands of transport operators, agricultural contractors and struggl…

I direct the House's attention to a recent disturbing report published by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, on child trafficking in Ireland. This document exposes a hidden dark reality that our State apparatus is actively ignoring. The report reveals that child trafficking is significantly under-identified in this country. Our authorities are blind to the exploitation happening right in front of them, too often treating vulnerable child victims as simple child protection statistics rather than …

I, too, want to raise the issue The Irish Times covered, and which my colleague has covered as well, of the tens of thousands of Irish people who are considering emigration. In February of last year, I raised the alarm bell on this issue and since then, well over 62,000 people have left the country. Let me say that again; it is over 62,000. That is the population of Drogheda or Dundalk. In fact, let me give the Leader another visual. We were all touched this year to see the images of Mayo winning the Sam Maguire Cu…

I join my colleagues in expressing condolences to the friends and family of Enda Bonner - may he rest in peace - and to my colleague, Senator Gerard Craughwell, on the loss of his wife, Helen. What I wish to speak about today is the story that was in The Irish Times this morning, where the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, warned that hauliers cannot sustain current fuel prices. When asked if there would be another round of protests, he said that desperate times make desperate people. As fuel p…

The Minister, Deputy Calleary, is welcome to the House. I rise to focus the attention of the House on a vital public service that sits at the very heart of social inclusion on this island, the free travel scheme. Specifically, I am calling on the Minister for Social Protection to investigate a comprehensive, seamless expansion of this scheme into Northern Ireland. The free travel scheme is a lifeline, providing dignity, independence and mobility to all our older citizens, full-time carers and people with disabiliti…

I thank the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I appreciate that he will engage with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on this. We live in the land of technology. We are told that we are a tech nation and the idea that it would require an agreement and would be a little bit difficult to have this IT system put in place quickly seems a little bit ridiculous. It is something that can be overcome easily. The reality on the ground is that a partnership should not require an older person to fill out an entire separate cross-Bor…

The future of European border security is being decided right row at the European Commission. It is currently drafting the renewed mandate of Frontex, the EU border police force. As Ireland holds the rotating EU Presidency, the Minister for justice cannot simply pose as a disinterested broker while our European borders are compromised. We must proactively shape this agenda. It is worth noting that the Government pushed ahead with committing Ireland to the EU migration pact, despite widespread national sovereignty r…

I second Senator Mullen's amendment to the Order of Business.

I speak today on a matter of urgent child protection and public expenditure. I received a letter from the Children's Rights Alliance, CRA, expressing deep disappointment that Allpro Services had secured a contract to act as the official representative organisation for unaccompanied and separated children. These children are among the most traumatised individuals in the State. The Children's Rights Alliance has explicitly warned that these minors are extremely vulnerable to hypermobility, exploitation, trafficking a…

To be clear, I am not attacking any individual. I am questioning what all of this has to say about the state of our public procurement. Section 53(c) of the aforementioned Act requires this six-month pilot contract to be reviewed. I echo the CRA's demand that this evaluation must be conducted by an independent evaluator to ensure absolute transparency. We all will be watching this and we will not leave those vulnerable children to this company.

I also support the Minister with this amendment. From my perspective, and I hear what Senator Higgins has outlined, anyone involved in antisocial behaviour where they are covering their faces needs to be dealt with. In my town of Duleek over recent weeks, many of the residents in our housing estates have been inundated with young gurriers on scramblers going around, with balaclavas on them, ripping up their parks and recreational spaces. It has to stop. These are all teenagers. They are probably from the age of 13 …

My amendment No. 24 proposes to insert a three-year sunset clause and a mandatory operational review framework into Part IIIA of the Defence Act 1954, as inserted by section 9 of the Bill, directly addressing the State's expanding powers regarding the Defence Forces' deployment in aid of the civil power. Let me be clear. I support the broad principles of the Bill and I welcome the codification and modernisation of our defence protocols. However, this is a miscellaneous provisions Bill and, as such, it is not really…

I move amendment No. 24: In page 19, after line 40, to insert the following: “Review and sunset of Part IIIA provisions 40D. (1) The provisions of Part IIIA shall cease to have effect 3 years after the commencement of this section unless continued in accordance with subsection (5). (2) The Minister shall, not later than 2 years after the commencement of this section, conduct a review of the operation of Part IIIA and shall lay a report before each House of the Oireachtas. (3) A report under subsection (2) shall inc…

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is great to see her here in the Chamber. I will address the structural flaws in this legislation. Underneath the language of safety, this Bill threatens our economic sovereignty, creates court bottlenecks and sets up hypercritical double standards for the State and the citizen. The Government claims that establishing oifig IS na hÉireann by August gives us first-mover advantage. The Minister of State argues that this early roll-out will provide stability to the market. Howe…

I rise today to express my deep alarm at the legislative direction being pursued by this Government regarding reproductive leave and the eager applause it has received from the Opposition, including the Labour Party. While this conversation touches on areas of genuine human heartbreak, we are witnessing a highly cynical bipartisan race to the edge that completely abandons common sense. The primary responsibility of this misdirection lies squarely with the Government. In its rushed reported proposals it has chosen t…

Hear, hear.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “Provision for notification of relatives in guardianship proceedings 12BA. (1) Where— (a) an application is made to the court under this Act for the restriction or removal of the guardianship of any person, or (b) it becomes apparent that a child is to be left without any guardian, or with guardians who are unwilling or unable to act, the applicant in the case of paragraph (a), or the Child and Family Agency in the case of paragrap…

Will the Minister agree to review this legislation in, say, 18 months? I should have written that in as an amendment.

I have tabled a lot of amendments and my only issue is the one with Tusla, the State agency for the care of children. I just do not have faith in it, but I have faith in the Minister that, if Tusla is not doing its job or not doing it correctly, he will come back to this Chamber in a year's time and say that can be changed and perhaps another body can be found to take on the role. I thank the Minister. I will not be pressing my amendments. I accept the Minister's reasoning.

I would like to reference a case we heard of over the weekend where an elected representative faces personal legal exposure arising from what was described as a routine constituency representation. I will not go into the specifics, but I highlight it because whatever the outcome of that specific case, it broadens the discussion to a more structural problem that we cannot ignore. Put simply, we have a situation where institutions are protected from certain legal actions but elected individuals are not. Local authori…