Is deas an rud é a bheith ar ais ar an lá iontach geal seo.

I will begin where my colleague left off by congratulating the Leader and wishing her and Jarlath the very best for Saturday. It is great news and we wish her well. I hope they have a great day and they get good weather for the photographs. If they get the weather, the two of them will make good photographs.

The material is good, if the weather allows it.

The greatest and most important challenge for us in the House is to create equality of opportunity and a level playing field for each of our citizens. Two recent initiatives have considerable potential in this regard. One is the book scheme from the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley's Department. I do not have the full details of the scheme, but I understand it gives €96 towards the provision of books. This is a significant advance. The second important initiative, which comes from the Department of my ministerial constituency colleague, Deputy Humphreys, will see every child in school receiving a hot meal. The Cathaoirleach is a teacher and there are a number of other teachers in the room. One of the best old-style teachers I ever knew was brilliant and turned out great results. He told me that he could not teach people if they had not had proper food and a night's sleep. This is why hot meals are crucial.

I am raising these matters for two reasons. The first is to welcome them but, more importantly, I am asking for a debate on the schemes' logistics so that we can be assured such logistics are in place, particularly where the hot meals scheme is concerned. Could the relevant Ministers attend to explain the position and when they foresee the schemes being implemented? Achieving them in the country's schools will be a large logistical task, so we need to consider their implementation.

The next great challenge - perhaps we could incorporate all of this into the one debate - facing us is making enough provision in our schools for people with autism. I gather from people who approach me that the level of provision for autism is not yet at acceptable levels. I would like to achieve that next, having achieved in terms of hot meals, books and the phenomenal two years of preschool education. Giving every citizen in society an equal chance is a challenge facing the Seanad. These initiatives are crucial to that. As an Oireachtas, we need to supervise their implementation so that we know they are happening and what the plans are to make them happen.

I commend the Cathaoirleach on last Thursday's event in the Dáil Chamber. He spoke well.

I congratulate also Senator Chambers in advance of Saturday, given there is still time to run. I hope she enjoys her day.

I call for a debate with the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, on the steps Ireland is taking to combat the human trafficking taking place on our shores. I welcome his signalling that Ireland is to join the EU directive that will amend the anti-trafficking directive, strengthening our ability to combat these crimes and introducing a European referral mechanism to improve the early identification of victims and provide support. A harmonised definition of the likes of forced marriage and illegal adoptions throughout the EU, and the use of advance passenger information, will make us better able to identify, disrupt and prosecute those involved in organised crime engaging in the trafficking of persons for labour or prostitution. Last year, the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings stated, "Sexual exploitation [in Ireland] remains the primary form of exploitation, but the number of people trafficked for labour exploitation – in sectors including fishing, farming, construction, catering and domestic work – grew over the same period." That trafficking for labour exploitation means this is under-recognised and under-reported.

Shockingly, there have been no convictions for trafficking for labour exploitation in this country despite the increasing numbers of identified suspected cases, and yet Ireland is not immune to trafficking. We need to hear what is being done by the Government to step up the effort to combat trafficking. We need to establish safe reporting procedures for foreign workers and to review the atypical working scheme in the fisheries industry to ensure it contains sufficient safeguards against the trafficking and exploitation of fishermen. We need to examine what can be done to raise awareness of the warning signs of trafficking in order that people can monitor their own communities, with specialised training for people who work closely with at-risk individuals in how to spot indicators of human trafficking among children. The mass movement of persons across the European Continent as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has provided traffickers with the perfect smokescreen to carry out large-scale operations undetected. We must be extra-vigilant in this environment to ensure the vulnerabilities of people in flux will not be exploited for profit. I am reminded of this time last year when 91 children were flown into Dublin Airport by a charity - 59 of them unaccompanied - and Tusla did not even know about it. I am not saying there was anything untoward about that instance but it shows that the eye needs to be on the ball all the time. I ask that we invite in the Minister or a Minister of State for a debate on this.

I rise in utter frustration and, indeed, with determination when it comes to even the smallest of green actions. Virtually all the parties across the board yet again voted against a cycle lane in Galway last night, this time on the east side of the city. This was a proposal put forward by the council itself. People will recall the famous Salthill cycle lane that was voted against, but this time, not only did Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael vote against the cycle lane but so also did the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and Independents. I fear things are getting more difficult when it comes to some of these small measures of climate action. Without this cycle lane, safe routes to school cannot happen now around two schools, Scoil Chaitríona and Gaelscoil Dara in the east of the city.

Not everything is going to be perfect. The major problem that councillors had seemed to relate to the removal of parking spaces that would be required, but we are going to have to remove some parking spaces if we want to take climate action seriously. Effectively, this involves retrofitting a scheme into something that was never designed to have cars, buses and cyclists on it, but we have to do it. We have no other option. We have all made a commitment, across the political spectrum, to reduce our emissions by 50% by 2030, and these are the easiest measures to take. This morning, the Cabinet agreed to look at demand management, which is a fancy way of saying we will use more of a stick in respect of some of these actions relating to climate, such as increasing parking charges or perhaps even going as far as introducing congestion charges.

I do not want to see these things happen, but we are being left with no other option if it is the case that things that actually make people's lives better are not being embraced by politicians, particularly at council level. We often hear of councillors objecting to the building of houses - that is very real, and I see it every day across the councils - but it seems they are also objecting to everything else at the same time and are thereby preventing us from moving forward and being the leaders I know we can be when it comes to climate.

I also know the public, especially young people, want and expect that leadership. I ask politicians to think again. In the Seanad and the Dáil, I ask that Members call up their own councillors and ask what is going on. They have an obligation to their own parties, as, indeed, I have to mine. We will push as hard as we can but we need the support.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. Ba mhaith liom ar dtús báire comhghairdeas a ghabhail le hachan duine a bhí páirteach le cuairt Uachtarán Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá an tseachtain seo caite. Is turas agus cuairt ar an Oireachtas a bhí stairiúil agus suntasach dúinn ar fad. I thank and commend all of those in the Houses of the Oireachtas who played any part, big or small, in ensuring a very successful and memorable visit by President Biden to the Houses for his address last week. It was a memorable occasion for all of us.

I particularly want to welcome the announcement from President Biden of the economic conference later this year. That will be an important opportunity for businesses, not just in the North but across the island, to co-ordinate, plan, engage and support workers and communities everywhere. It serves no one when the economies on our island compete or operate at varying levels. When we are doing well, we need to do well right across the island. The economic conference can really be of benefit and can bolster that. At Queen’s University yesterday, I had the opportunity with the new US envoy to the North, Joseph Kennedy. I certainly relayed to him the real benefit in bolstering our all-Ireland economy going forward.

I acknowledge the events taking place at Queen’s University to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and the inspiring and poignant address by Senator George Mitchell yesterday in which he reminded us not only of the long slog and the struggle in arriving at the agreement and getting the institutions up and running but also, very firmly, of the fact that we still have work to do and that we need those institutions back up and running and operating for everyone. In that spirit, while I know we passed a motion on the Good Friday Agreement some time ago, perhaps it would be timely to have statements on the shared island unit and the work it will be doing over the coming period.

I want to again flag the issue of passports. As we are heading into the summer, I am sure other colleagues are starting to receive calls regarding delays and concerns about people getting passports out on time. As we head into the summer and, no doubt, a rush, it would be an opportune time for us to have statements on the Department of Foreign Affairs and the services of the Passport Office.

I join colleagues in commending the Cathaoirleach. His remarks last week were very powerful and poignant. They went down tremendously well across the House. I thank him for representing the Seanad so well.

At the beginning of the sitting, I was remiss in not paying tribute to a former colleague and Member of the House who passed away last week. I refer to our colleague and friend, former Senator Pat Magner. I had the pleasure of knowing Pat as a very collegial and great friend. He served in this House on three occasions - having been nominated three times - from 1981 to 1982, 1983 to 1987 and 1993 to 1997. Pat Magner was not just a Member of the House, he was also a loyal and dedicated public servant who gave more than 60 years to the Labour Party as its organiser in chief, if I can use that term. He was a Cork man who I had the pleasure of knowing and spending many a happy time with in the Dáil bar and in other establishments.

To his wife Anne and their eight children, his brother Noel, his sister Pauline, and his grandchildren, I offer my deepest sympathies. I offer our sympathies to the Labour Party on the death of their colleague and friend. Pat Magner was one of the nicest people you could meet. He was a genuine, warm man and a great person. May he rest in peace.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his warm tribute to former Labour Senator Pat Magner. He was a Corkonian but he very much made Dublin his home. He was a three-time Senator and made an enormous contribution to the Labour Party. It is certainly a huge loss for the party, with the years of commitment he brought to it. I offer our sincere sympathies to Mr. Magner's wife Anne and their children, family and wide and extensive circle of friends.

I follow Senator Ó Donnghaile's comments about the Cathaoirleach's contribution last Thursday. There was a real sense of pride in having Senator Buttimer as our Cathaoirleach, particularly with his comments to President Biden, marking the achievements of our country with regard to social issues but also marking President Biden's leadership on those issues. I thank the Cathaoirleach for that.

I congratulate the Leader on her day and wish her the very best this Saturday.

I request that we ask the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to come to the House to talk about the system of apprenticeships. While we must acknowledge that there has been major progress in expanding the range of apprenticeships on offer, there are real issues with regard to how some of those apprenticeships are organised, particularly with the non-payment in the educational period, and the issue of retention in certain sectors, especially construction. There is also the issue of uncommenced apprenticeships that were mooted for development, particularly in 2017. One of the uncommenced apprenticeships that has come to my attention is in baking. We know that bakeries are a vital part of many of our towns and cities. We can all wax lyrical about how important they are, yet the State is not doing anything to ensure we have a supply of skilled labour into that sector. In Dublin alone, we have had a significant number of bakeries close in recent years because it is so difficult to get trained staff. Baking is one of the 27 apprenticeships that were mooted for development back in 2017 but we have only seen a share of those go on to be developed.

There is a real issue, particularly when looking at labour shortages in certain sectors, and some employers are increasingly calling for migrant work permits to be looked at. Migrant permits play an important role in our labour market but we also need to look at how we ensure a sustainable supply of labour into certain sectors. There is a particularly acute issue in baking, furniture-making and other sectors. There is a serious role in this area for the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if we are to ensure we have sufficient skilled labour in these sectors in the coming years.

Unfortunately, I was not able to be here last week due to not having a babysitter for the girls. To be watching the event at home with my child and to be part of our Parliament was brilliant. One could feel the vibe outside when President Biden was here. The Cathaoirleach's speech was incredible and we have much to be proud of, making it to news and other channels all over the world.

I have the height of respect for the Ministers, Deputies McEntee and Harris. I would have said that as Minister for Justice, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, was one of the best Ministers I have seen in my lifetime. I am disappointed that the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022 seeks to bring in facial recognition. England brought it in and then banned it.

Facial recognition technology can target people from minority groups. We saw such targeting with the PULSE system in 2014. Pavee Point did a lot of work around how Travellers were targeted in that system and how it does not work. I find it very disheartening and dishonest of the Government that it is just trying to squeeze something through as an amendment instead of having it in the Bill when it was introduced last May or when it was spoken about last August. This Bill deserves its own stand-alone scrutiny and to include the voice of the people, including those from minority groups and disadvantaged areas whose voices need to be heard. These are the people at the edges of society who are too often targeted by an Garda. I live and breathe in working-class communities. I am obviously from the Traveller community myself. It is only when you are reared, born and bred in these communities that you see the pressures on young people in places such as Ballyfermot and Tallaght. This technology could add more pressures to a young person who is black or is a Traveller from these areas.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties currently has a petition calling for this amendment not to happen and for this matter to have its own stand-alone Bill. I understand the Bill is going to Committee Stage on 23 May. It our job as legislators and Senators to scrutinise the Bill to make sure it has the best interests of our people at its heart. Unfortunately, the Bill does not have our people's best interests at heart, especially those from working-class communities, the Traveller community and black people. We are not criminals and should not be targeted as such.

The proposed amendment of this Bill will do more harm than good for people in my community. There is nothing much the Leader can do about it but I urge Senators to object to this amendment the Government is looking to squeeze in, in a very sneaky way that should not be allowed to happen.