Laura Harmon
Industrial and Commercial Panel · Labour Party · Ireland
“There is not enough room for a wheelchair to go around the side of the building. There is no obvious proper entrance. The reception is upstairs. There is no lift access for anyone with mobility issues, buggies or deliveries. The classrooms are an irregular shape and are not the standard classroom size of 49 sq. m.”
“Her cause of death was recorded as “congenital debilities”. For many of those babies who died at Bessborough, the reason given for their death was congenital debility or marasmus, which was essentially starvation. The reason given for these babies’ deaths was often very vague.”
“I am speaking again about the issue of Bessborough in Cork city and to call once again on the Taoiseach to act on this. There is still time to do the right thing and to have a negotiation process with the developer now or, failing that, to look at compulsory purchase of this site. The burial records have been sealed in relation to this.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response. Will she call for a meeting in person with the school? Could that be facilitated to give the school an update in person? Does she have an idea as to a commitment on the timeline?”
“Will the Minister of State provide an update on what has been done to progress the request for additional school accommodation for Coláiste Daibhéid in Cork city and a timeline for the project?”
“It reaches high standards academically as well as in sport, STEM and stewardship. It has fantastic students and they deserve better. At present, the school is on the edge of Douglas Street Campus on Sawmill Street. There are two buildings. One is Buckingham House, which dates from the mid-19th century.”
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“There has been extensive coverage on this issue from journalist Ann Murphy in the Irish Examiner in Cork. We welcome the provision but hope the Minister can consider these amendments.”
“It is important this legislation covers existing tenancies of all sorts as well as any future tenancies. As there could be people who are already in these situations and need to have this protection under the law, again this is a very sensible amendment. I have tabled those four amendments together, which we believe would strengthen this legislation. Again, I commend the Minister on addressing this issue. Having it set out in legislation will create a deterrent and awareness that this is an offence and needs to be stamped out because it is something that has significant prevalence in society. We know from reports and surveys that have been done by the Irish Council for International Students and the National Women's Council that this is a prevalent issue.”
“28, 30 and 31 are all related and what they seek to do is ensure that when we are talking about the issue of sex for rent, as it is so called, what is inserted in the Bill also includes reductions in payment. We are talking about sex in lieu of or in exchange for a reduction in payment, so it takes into account any proposals related to an exchange for sex for full or partial payment of rent. Those three amendments relate to that. This is a very sensible proposal we hope could be accepted by the Minister. Amendment No. 29 seeks to close what we see as a potential loophole in the legislation. We feel that potentially, the Bill could risk leaving out sitting tenants and licensees who have existing tenancies and could just apply to future tenancies.”
“I move amendment No. 28: In page 35, line 31, to delete “in lieu of payment” and substitute “in lieu of, or in exchange for a reduction in, payment”. I intend to move all these amendments and propose to discuss them together. Amendments Nos. 28 to 31, inclusive, are very straightforward amendments in relation to the element of this Bill that would provide the statutory provision on the issue of sex for rent, which needs to be outlawed. From the outset, we really welcome this provision and the first Bill I brought through as a Senator was on this Bill. I am really pleased the Minister has taken it on. He is the first Minister who has taken this issue on because a number of Ministers have made promises to deal with the issue and it was not dealt with. This is a huge step forward and should be broadly welcomed. Amendments Nos.”
“(3) A complainant shall not be required, in or in connection with any criminal proceedings, to produce a counselling record unless the complainant has consented to the production of a counselling record.”.”. I have moved the amendment on behalf of the Civil Engagement Group and propose to withdraw the amendment.”
“(1) In this section— ‘competent person’ means a person who has undertaken training or study or has experience relevant to the process of counselling; ‘complainant’ means a person in respect of whom an offence is alleged to have been committed; ‘counselling’ means listening to and giving verbal or other support or encouragement to a person, or advising or providing therapy or other treatment to a person (whether or not for remuneration); ‘counselling record’ means any record, or part of a record, made by any means, by a competent person in connection with the provision of counselling to a complainant. (2) A counselling record shall not be disclosed in any criminal proceedings unless the complainant has consented to the disclosure.”
“I move amendment No. 18: In page 19, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “ Amendment of section 19A of Criminal Evidence Act 1992 16. The Criminal Evidence Act 1992 is amended by the deletion of section 19A and the substitution of the following: “19A.”
“There needs to be a process such as the one we are advocating in the legislation to take account of any risk of misidentification and spell out how a person could go about fixing the problem if he or she were to find himself or herself in that unfortunate position. We really need to consider this risk as part of the legislation. At the same time, we absolutely welcome this substantive legislation. It has been a long time coming and people deserve to know about this matter and to have transparency in relation to it. It particularly affects women, so the proposed measure is absolutely needed. I hope the Minister will consider this amendment.”
“On receiving such an application from a person who believes he or she is at risk of being misidentified as a domestic abuser, the judgment would be annotated to say that an application is under consideration. This would provide some mitigation in the case of misidentification in the interim. The matter would then be considered by the court that made the initial order for inclusion on the register. Having considered the application, it could then annotate the judgment as it considers appropriate or temporarily remove the judgment from the register. We believe an open register like this, while absolutely welcome and needed, carries risks that need to be mitigated.”
“I welcome the previous comment from the Minister that he will keep the legislation under review, particularly regarding the previous amendments tabled by the Labour Party, namely amendments Nos. 3 and 4, which were rejected. It is important that this register be kept under review in relation to the information provided on how it will work in practice. We are very supportive of this Bill as a whole. Amendment No. 10 is a simple one that we believe amounts to a common-sense fix to the risk of any misidentification. It provides a mechanism by which a person who believes he or she is being misidentified may apply to the Courts Service for annotation or temporary removal of the judgment.”
“(10C) On an application under subsection (10A), the court may make one or more of the following orders— (a) an order that the judgment be annotated in such terms as it considers appropriate; (b) an order that the judgment be temporarily removed from the Register pending such further steps as the court may specify; (c) if satisfied that the judgment is liable incorrectly to identify the applicant as the convicted person, an order directing the permanent removal of the judgment from the Register or directing such amendment to the information in the judgment as it thinks fit. (10D) An application under subsection (10A) shall not affect the entitlement of the convicted person to apply for removal of the judgment from the Register under subsection (9).".”
“I move amendment No. 10: In page 5, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: "(10A) A person who believes that information contained in a judgment included in the Register is liable incorrectly to identify him or her as a convicted person may apply to the court which ordered the inclusion of the judgement in the Register for a determination under subsection (10C). (10B) On receipt of an application under subsection (10A), the Courts Service shall— (a) annotate the relevant judgment on the Register forthwith to indicate that an application under subsection (10A) is under consideration, (b) notify the court which made the order for inclusion of the judgment in the Register, and (c) refer the matter to that court for determination.”
“The principle here is the same one that underlies the Bill itself, namely, transparency. If a person consulting the register is empowered in this way to request access to court records, the risk of someone being wrongly identified falls significantly. That, of course, protects the individual who may be misidentified, but it also strengthens trust in the register itself. It is important that the public have trust in this register, which is what we should all be aiming for in pushing this legislation forward. I hope that the Minister can accept the amendments.”
“We believe that the inclusion of a date of birth in all cases would be an important step in disambiguating the names on the register. It is a simple step but one we believe is essential. I want to speak to amendment No. 4, which is proposed by the Labour Party. Amendment No. 4 states: In page 4, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “(ca) the record number assigned to the proceedings by the court;”. This amendment would require the publication of the court record number for proceedings in which a person was convicted to be published on the register. Again, this is for the purposes of disambiguation and would allow anyone to request the underlying judgment for verification and for it to be made available. We believe that this is a commonsense step that would help to substantially mitigate any risk of misidentification.”
“There is no unique identifier such as a PPS number, date of birth or physical description in the mandatory fields. We raise this issue only because this Bill is so important. We cannot let the risk of misidentification get in the way of an entirely worthy aim of empowering people to protect themselves from domestic abusers in their lives. We need to get this right. Amendment No. 3 would require the inclusion of the date of birth of the convicted person to be included in the register of judgments in all cases. Currently, the Bill only requires that the judgment include the age of the convicted person, where available. A person sharing a name and approximate age with a registrant could be misidentified by employers, landlords, neighbours or partners consulting the public register.”
“As the Bill is currently drafted, a judgment to be included in the register will contain the name of the convicted person, the age of the convicted person where available and, subject to the court's discretion and where available, the residential address. This combination of name, age and discretionary address is the complete identification framework currently proposed. We believe that there is a real risk of misidentification as part of this. Ireland has a relatively small population and a heavily concentrated surname distribution, in particular in large urban areas such as Dublin, so combining a common surname with a common first name, for example, John Murphy or Seán Kelly, and a birth year would produce a non-trivial probability of multiple matches. The register is public facing and also Internet searchable.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, to delete line 11 and substitute the following: “(b) the date of birth of the convicted person;”. I want to speak to amendments Nos. 3 and 4 together. From the outset, I want to make clear that this is a very important Bill that has the full support of the Labour Party. We need to make sure that it is watertight and operates as intended. That is why we have tabled these amendments. We believe that there is a real risk of misidentification in the proposed register and we aim to counteract that. Currently, the register relies solely on names and approximate ages.”
“We are trying to improve this legislation and make it better for all those who may be affected by it, while also taking constitutionality into consideration.”
“Our proposal is that there would be an independent panel with expertise, that no counselling notes would be used but that a narrative would be outlined, with clear limitations on that narrative in terms of details that would be provided in a court situation. What is ultimately critical is that there should be no retraumatising of victims and survivors. There also should be protections put in place as part of this for counsellors, that is, for those professionals working in that area. We believe this is a sensible amendment that would significantly ameliorate the impact of the Bill, as currently drafted, in terms of the proposal in question, and that it would uphold the requirements in relation to what we are trying to achieve in order to ensure that counselling notes are not used. This is a constructive amendment.”
“This amendment represents an alternative option which we hope the Government can accept as part of this Bill. I note that other jurisdictions are currently moving faster than the Irish Government on this particular issue. Canada is currently amending its laws on disclosure of records in sexual offence trials to strengthen protections there. In particular, they are separating therapeutic records from other records to ensure the application of a higher test before therapeutic records can be disclosed. This approach reflects the approach the Labour Party is proposing in this amendment. We have huge concerns with counselling notes being used, as do many civil society organisations that are working at the coalface of this.”
“At the heart of this is protecting survivors and victims and ensuring that they are not retraumatised as part of this process. We must consider the constitutionality of what we are trying to achieve and we absolutely respect that. My colleague, Deputy Alan Kelly, our spokesperson on justice, was very clear on this when he debated the matter in the Dáil as well. We need to push this amendment as far as we can and try to achieve as much as we can and that is what this amendment proposes. Our amendment makes clear that the interests of justice standard is acceptable for other applicable records but should not apply to counselling records and that express language providing for a clear presumption of non-disclosure is absolutely critical.”
“This amendment is primarily to deal with the issue which garnered much debate during the passage of this legislation thus far in relation to the issue of counselling notes. We submitted this amendment previously and it has been submitted in the Dáil as well. We want to submit it again to reiterate its importance. This amendment was drafted by Lorcan Staines SC for the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. The Labour Party, along with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and others, is supporting and proposing this important amendment. This amendment puts forward an alternative proposal on how we deal with a highly sensitive issue, in order to deal with it in an alternative way and ensure no counselling notes are used as part of trials in court.”
“(19) Where any applicable record or counselling record containing opinion, interpretation, or third-party summaries is admitted in evidence, the judge shall issue a warning to the jury that such material is indirect, interpretive, may contain factual errors and should not be treated as a verbatim account of the complainant’s words or actions in particular where the complainant did not have any opportunity to review or correct such contents. (20) The Minister shall, within 18 months of the commencement of this section, conduct a review of its operation and lay a report of that review before both Houses of the Oireachtas.”.”. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am putting forward this amendment, which is seconded by my colleague, Senator Cosgrove.”
“(17) For the purposes of a hearing pursuant to subsection (8), all persons, other than officers of the court, persons directly concerned in the hearing and such other persons (if any) as the court may determine, shall be excluded from the court during the hearing. (18) In addition to the meaning assigned to that expression by section 27 of the Act of 1995, ‘legal aid’ in that Act means representation by a solicitor or barrister, engaged by the Legal Aid Board under section 11 of that Act, on behalf of a complainant or witness in relation to an application pursuant to this section.”
“(c) An applicable record that is disclosed to the accused pursuant to subsection (11), (12) or (13) must only be used for the purposes of the criminal proceedings for which the record has been disclosed and may not be disclosed to any person without leave of the court. (15) The court shall provide reasons for ordering, or refusing to order, disclosure of the content of an applicable record pursuant to subsection (11) or (12). (16) Where, upon application by the accused, the court considers that the interests of justice require the making of a disclosure application after the period permitted in subsection (3), the court may direct that such an application may be made.”
“(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), one or more of the following conditions may be included in an order made pursuant to subsection (11), (12) or (13)— (i) that a part of the content of the applicable record be redacted, (ii) that a copy of the applicable record and not the original be disclosed, (iii) that the applicable record be viewed only at the offices of the court, (iv) that no copies, or only a limited number of copies, of the applicable record, be made, (v) that information concerning the address, telephone number or place of employment of any person named in the applicable record be redacted from the record, or (vi) that the applicable record be returned to the person who owns or controls the said record.”
“In the event that a complainant wishes to provide their consent of their own motion, such application should be made on notice to the prosecutor and the accused within 28 days of service of the book of evidence or the précis of evidence as the case may be. (14) (a) Where an order is made pursuant to subsection (11), (12) or (13), in the interests of justice and to protect the right to privacy of any person to whom the applicable record relates, the court shall only grant disclosure of such specific material as is strictly necessary and the court may impose any condition it considers necessary on the disclosure of the record.”
“(12) The Court shall not order disclosure of the content of a counselling record to the accused, and where applicable, the prosecutor, unless the court is satisfied, having examined the record, that the information contained in the record cannot reasonably be obtained by any other means and there would be a real risk of an unfair trial in the absence of such disclosure. (13) The provisions within this section are mandatory. However, a complainant may, either in response to an application under this section or of their own motion through their own legal representation, indicate their consent to the disclosure of an applicable record to the court. Such consent should be fully-informed, based on legal advice and should be given directly to the court.”
“(11) Subject to subsections (12), (13) and (14), a court shall not, after the hearing referred to in subsection (8), order disclosure of the content of the applicable record concerned to the accused, and where applicable, the prosecutor, unless the court is satisfied, having examined the record, that— (a) the record is likely to be relevant to an issue at trial, (b) the information contained in the record cannot reasonably be obtained by any other means, and (c) one or both of the following apply: (i) there would be a real risk of an unfair trial in the absence of such disclosure; (ii) it is otherwise in the interests of justice to so order.”
“(10) In determining, at the hearing referred to in subsection (8), whether the content of the applicable record should be disclosed to the accused under subsection (11), the court shall take the following factors, in particular, into account: (a) the extent to which the record is necessary for the accused to defend the charges against him or her; (b) the probative value of the record; (c) the reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the record; (d) the potential prejudice to the right to privacy of any person to whom the record relates; (e) the public interest in encouraging the reporting of sexual offences; (f) the public interest in encouraging complainants of sexual offences to engage with the provision of services by a child protection professional, a competent person, a medical professional, a social care worker or a social worker; (g) the effect of the determination on the integrity of the trial process; (h) the likelihood that disclosing, or requiring the disclosure of, the record will cause harm to the complainant including the nature and extent of that harm; (i) whether disclosure of the applicable records is sought on the basis of a discriminatory belief or basis.”
“(7) The court may, at any time, order that a disclosure application be notified to any person to whom it believes the applicable record may relate. (8) The court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the content of the applicable record should be disclosed to the accused. (9) The person who has possession or control of the applicable record, the complainant and any other person to whom the applicable record relates shall be entitled to appear and be heard at the hearing referred to in subsection (8).”
“(6) Where the court orders, under subsection (5)(a), that a hearing referred to in subsection (8) be held— (a) the court may order that the person who has possession or control of the applicable record concerned shall produce the record to the prosecutor not later than the beginning of such period in advance of the hearing as may be prescribed in rules of court but the court may not make such an order in respect of counselling records, (b) the court may order that the person who has possession or control of the applicable record concerned, including a counselling record, shall produce the applicable record to the court only, in a confidential manner as prescribed in rules of court, and not later than the beginning of such period in advance of the hearing as may be prescribed in rules of court, and (c) without prejudice to subsection (7), the prosecutor shall, not later than the beginning of such period as may be prescribed in rules of court, notify the person who has possession or control of the applicable record concerned, the complainant, and any other person to whom the prosecutor believes the applicable record relates of the order of the court under subsection (5)(a) and, where applicable, paragraphs (a) and (b).”
“(4) A disclosure application under subsection (2) must be made within 28 days of service of the book of evidence (or the service of a précis of evidence in the District Court) and must be made on notice to the prosecutor or accused, as applicable. (5) Where a disclosure application is made under subsection (3), the court shall consider the application and where it is satisfied that the grounds relied upon in the application— (a) establish that the record is likely to be relevant to an issue at trial, the court shall order that a hearing referred to in subsection (8) be held, or (b) do not establish that the record is likely to be relevant to an issue at trial, the court shall refuse the application.”
“(3) Where, in criminal proceedings for a sexual offence, the prosecutor or the accused is of the opinion that an applicable record ought to be disclosed to the accused under subsection (11), the prosecutor or the accused, as the case may be, shall make an application (in this section referred to as a ‘disclosure application’), in writing, to the court setting out— (a) the specific applicable record sought, or particulars identifying same, (b) cogent reasons for seeking the applicable record which engage with the facts of the case, and (c) the grounds relied upon to establish that it is likely to be relevant to an issue at trial.”
“(2) There shall be a presumption against the disclosure of all applicable records. The presumption against disclosure may only be rebutted in accordance with subsection (11) and (12), furthermore— (a) applicable records may not be disclosed to the accused in proceedings for a sexual offence without the leave of the court in accordance with this section, and (b) no one shall request access to a counselling record nor shall a counselling record be disclosed to the prosecutor or to the accused in proceedings for a sexual offence without the leave of the court in accordance with this section.”
“(1) In this section— ‘Act of 1950’ means the Nurses Act 1950; ‘Act of 1985’ means the Nurses Act 1985; ‘Act of 1995’ means the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995; ‘Act of 2005’ means the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005; Act of 2011’ means the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011; ‘applicable record’, in relation to criminal proceedings for a sexual offence, means a child protection record, a counselling record, a medical record or a social work record— (a) in relation to which there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, (b) which was not compiled for the purposes of, or in contemplation of, the investigation into, or the prosecution of, the sexual offence concerned, and (c) whether or not the service the subject of the record was provided for remuneration; ‘child protection’ means an intervention or a series of interventions designed to safeguard children from abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation or harm and to promote their safety, wellbeing and rights; ‘child protection professional’ means a person who has undertaken training or study resulting in a qualification, or who has professional experience, relevant to child protection; ‘child protection record’ means any record, or part of a record, made by any means, by a person who was a child protection professional at the time of the making of the record, in the course of investigating or managing concerns, or carrying out assessments or interventions, in relation to the safety, welfare, or protection of a complainant when the complainant was a child; ‘competent person’ means a person who has undertaken training or study or has experience relevant to the process of counselling; ‘complainant’ means a person in respect of whom a sexual offence is alleged to have been committed; ‘counselling’ means listening to and giving verbal or other support or encouragement to a person, or advising or providing therapy or other treatment to a person; ‘counselling record’ means any record, or part of a record, made by any means, by a competent person in connection with the provision of counselling to a complainant; ‘court’ means the District Court, Circuit Criminal Court or the Central Criminal Court; ‘disclosure application’ has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2); ‘medical professional’ means— (a) a registered medical practitioner, (b) a registered nurse, or (c) a registered midwife; ‘medical record’ means any record, or part of a record, made by any means, relating to the medical treatment of a complainant by, or ordered or initiated by, a person who was a medical professional at the time of the making of the record; ‘registered medical practitioner’, in relation to a particular point in time, means a person— (a) who was a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of section 2 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, (b) whose name was entered in the General Register of Medical Practitioners established under section 26 of the Medical Practitioners Act 1978, or (c) who was registered in the Register of Medical Practitioners prepared and established under the Medical Practitioners Act 1927, at that point in time; ‘registered midwife’, in relation to a particular point in time, means a person whose name was entered in— (a) the midwives division of the register of nurses and midwives established under section 46(1) of the Act of 2011, (b) the midwives division of the register of nurses established under section 27 of the Act of 1985, or (c) the midwives division of the register of nurses maintained under section 41 of the Act of 1950, at that point in time; ‘registered nurse’, in relation to a particular point in time, means a person— (a) whose name was entered in the nurses division of the register of nurses and midwives established under section 46(1) of the Act of 2011, (b) other than a registered midwife, whose name was entered in the register of nurses established under section 27 of the Act of 1985, (c) other than a registered midwife, whose name was entered in the register of nurses maintained under section 41 of the Act of 1950, or (d) who was registered in the register kept in pursuance of the Nurses Registration (Ireland) Act 1919, at that point in time; ‘sexual offence’ means an offence referred to in the Schedule to the Sex Offenders Act 2001; ‘social care worker’— (a) in relation to a particular point in time prior to the establishment under section 36 of the Act of 2005 of the register of members of the profession of social care worker, means a person who was practising as such and who held a qualification that is listed opposite the profession of social care worker in the third column of Schedule 3 to the Act of 2005 or a qualification that is a corresponding qualification, within the meaning of Part 9 of that Act, to that qualification, or (b) in relation to a particular point in time following the establishment of that register, means a person whose name was entered in that register, at that point in time; ‘social worker’— (a) in relation to a particular point in time prior to the establishment under section 36 of the Act of 2005 of the register of members of the profession of social worker, means a person who was practising as such and who held a qualification that is listed opposite the profession of social worker in the third column of Schedule 3 to the Act of 2005 or a qualification that is a corresponding qualification, within the meaning of Part 9 of that Act, to that qualification, or (b) in relation to a particular point in time following the establishment of that register, means a person whose name was entered in that register, at that point in time; ‘social work record’ means any record, or part of a record, made by any means, by a person who was a social worker or social care worker at the time of the making of the record, as part of a professional practice relating to assessing or supporting the welfare of a complainant or any related intervention by the social worker or social care worker.”
“I move amendment No. 16: In page 19, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 19A of Criminal Evidence Act 1992 16. (1) The Criminal Evidence Act 1992 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 19A: “Disclosure of third-party records in certain trials 19A.”
“At times, I become sick and tired of hearing consistently about public transport in Dublin when Cork is the fastest growing city. We need real action in relation to it. I would dedicate a specific time slot, if possible, in the Seanad to discuss public transport issues within Cork, which is the second city but, of course, the real capital.”
“For that reason, we need to prioritise investment and increase the pace of public transport development within the city. We have serious issues in the city in terms of bus reliability - buses not arriving on time and ghost buses disappearing - and the fact that we do not have a modern ticketing system. People cannot just tap on and tap off the bus. That is ridiculous in a modern city. There are well-known routes that are constantly delayed, namely, the 215, the 220, the 214 and the 208. These buses need to be reviewed. We need our Luas. In the Labour Party, we have called for shovels in the ground by 2030, but we need to make sure that it is delivered on time and on budget for the people of Cork. For too long, we have been left behind.”
“I congratulate the Leader on his appointment. I am sure that it is a really proud day for his family, who are in the Gallery. He has a long tradition of public service in his family and I am sure that his late mum is very proud watching him today. I also want to acknowledge Scott Ahearn in the Gallery. I knew Scott through student politics back in the day. I would say that the Leader has been involved in politics at all levels in Ireland at this point and I wish him well in his role. I congratulate Senator Cathal Byrne as well on his appointment as Whip today. Cork public transport is what I want to discuss. We need to have a discussion in this Chamber on it specifically. I say that because Cork is widely regarded as the fastest growing city in Ireland. The population of Cork is expected to rise by between 50% and 60% by 2040.”
“The right to a fair trial is, of course, something that needs to be protected. There are deep concerns in this area. We must always put the well-being of the victims at the centre of this and that needs to be protected. We look forward to further debate on this.”
“We look forward to further debate on Committee Stage. It goes without saying, but people across this House are in agreement in relation to the concerning issue of counselling notes being used during trials. We all agree as a starting point that the use of counselling notes in trials is a problem. We do not want to see counselling notes used in trials in this way. The Minister’s amendments have made some progress. The National Women’s Council of Ireland, NWCI, has said that the measures in this Bill are a step that will ensure greater scrutiny of the disclosure of counselling records, giving victims greater protection, but, in our view, they do not go far enough. Again, therefore, we will be seeking to have further debate on this provision on Committee Stage in the Seanad and will be bringing forward further amendments.”
“When it comes to this issue of sex for rent, we have been waiting too long. This will send a clear message to perpetrators that this is not acceptable and it needs to be outlawed. We look forward to further debate on this provision on Committee Stage. I also welcome the area of disregard in the Bill. For many decades, the State criminalised gay men because of who they were and who they loved. In Pride Month, it is fitting that we are debating this legislation. I mention the work of my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash, who has made sure that this matter has stayed on the agenda over many years. Those men who were wrongly criminalised should get justice. The Labour Party is proud to see this happening after many years of campaigning. It is a landmark moment for this country’s treatment of LGBTQI+ people.”
“I agree with the coalition campaigning on this issue of sex for rent and advocating for it to be included as a form of violence within Cuan’s domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy, and for dedicated training for An Garda Síochána to be provided in relation to this aspect. Greater protections for renters are also needed. I know this is a matter for the Minister for housing as well. In particular, there is a need for protection in precarious rental situations, including digs accommodation. We need to ensure that there is effective enforcement in terms of banning these ads online. I think this should be under the remit of the online safety commissioner. Those are a number of areas we will be looking at in terms of amendments. The Minister took action on this issue of sex for rent swiftly during his term.”
“I thank the House for facilitating me to speak earlier. I welcome the Minister to the House, and commend him on taking action on so many important areas. The first Bill I introduced to the Houses of the Oireachtas through the Seanad was on the issue of sex for rent, which is a terrible practice that needs to be outlawed. It is extremely welcome, therefore, that this aspect is being included in this legislation. We will be seeking to make some amendments on Committee Stage in relation to the Bill as a whole as well as to the sex for rent provision. I hope to engage with the Minister on those amendments, especially in ensuring there is access to legal assistance and specialist supports for victims of this practice, including clear referral pathways and trauma-informed services.”
“The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, should be conducting more inspections and having more authority over it. The cost of college needs to be addressed. Student homelessness is another symptom and consequence of the wider homelessness issue in this country but it is definitely a big part of it as well.”
“Coming up to the new academic term in a few months, there will be a scramble for accommodation again and issues around affordability. It should be a happy time for students and their families where they are excited about beginning a new chapter and going to college. It should be an exciting time but it is a time of great worry. I have requested a meeting with the Minister to discuss that issue and the issue of student rent caps. A very worrying practice is going on in some institutions whereby student rents in purpose-built accommodation are being raised by putting up the service charges, often without proper explanation as to why these charges are increasing. DCU is one example and UCC is another example. We need to clamp down on this.”
“I know that the further and higher education Oireachtas committee will be looking at this further as well and inviting representatives of the college to come before it in the coming weeks. The issue is also presently being discussed at the Committee of Public Accounts, but we need more clarity in relation to this. I also raise the issue of student homelessness. A recent report showed that 346 students reported being homeless in the most recent academic year. We know that this is not the full figure because it does not account for couch surfing, for example, or other forms of hidden homelessness. We know that student poverty exists. Nearly one third of students in UCC two years ago reported going to class hungry and skipping meals because of issues around the cost of college.”
“The first issue I want to raise is the proposed closure of Carlow College. I had a public meeting online last night with concerned staff and students, people living in the area, members of the public, and students unions who are expressing deep concerns in relation to this, and seeking more clarity in terms of what will happen with specific courses and what it will mean for the local economy and students. My big concern is that this is a workers' rights issue. There was a lack of information and transparency when it came to informing staff about this. There is a lot of worry at the minute and I urge the college to engage fully with the trade union movement. I know that SIPTU is seeking a meeting with the college. The Minister needs to provide further clarity for the general public. This issue is of public interest.”
“We simply cannot allow our country to be complicit. The Government is on record as agreeing that this is the new front in the disarmament movement. Last year, the Tánaiste told the Dáil that Ireland regards the area of autonomous weapons systems as one of the most pressing issues facing the modern disarmament agenda. If the Government is serious in that sentiment, then it needs to not just not oppose this Bill but to fully back it and commit to backing it on all Stages in both Houses. We need to see work globally to push for a treaty banning these weapons and we need to see it urgently. Ireland also needs to lead from the front. We need to make it clear that we will not be complicit in the use of these weapons before any treaty can be agreed. This is why we must back this Bill.”