Alan Kelly

You do not agree with it.

That is fair enough.

No, we have said our bit.

Earlier I spoke with Jacinta Graham, who is the mother of Stephen Loughnane who is the subject of the RTÉ "Prime Time Investigates" programme tonight. He had a brain injury following a car accident and has been in continuous seclusion in Limerick Prison since 2021, then in the Central Mental Hospital and then in Portrane because there is no residential place for him. He is in uninterrupted 24-hour…

I raised his case here with the Taoiseach on 15 September 2021.

Can we have time in this House to find out what the Taoiseach and his Government has done for him and people like him in the past five years?

Not agreed.

I propose to share time with Deputy Lawlor. This Bill is very similar to, if not a mirror copy of, the Bill I published. It even has the same name, but we will not worry about that. The most important thing is that legislation is brought in one way or the other. I could not care less whether it is brought forward by my party, Sinn Féin or the Government. The most important element of the Bill is …

I move: That leave be granted to introduce Bill entitled an Act to amend the law relating to the recording, distribution or publication of intimate images so as to extend its provisions to images that are generated or modified by computer-graphics; for that purpose to amend the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020; and to provide for related matters. This Bill is crit…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

We are talking in a bit of a vacuum here because any amendments the Minister has spoken about bringing forward, either in the media or here, have not actually been brought forward. As the previous speaker indicated, we should discuss any amendments in full on Committee Stage. I also ask that the Minister not guillotine the Bill. As he stated, it is such an important and comprehensive Bill. On foot…

Excuse me, I am not making any conflation. I am actually talking about lived experience. Is the Deputy calling me a liar?

I am representing the issue.

I did not start this.

We will get through the meat of the Bill on Committee Stage because so much is missing. The facts are that the Government is deliberately putting out spurious messages on migration and what is going on here is a bloody disgrace. The people who have come into this country from other countries and who work here are welcome. That is the message the Government should be sending out, rather than leavi…

Tell your colleagues.

We need a serious discussion in here about Garda leadership, the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, after what happened in Limerick yesterday, where a retired superintendent and four gardaí were found innocent on 39 charges. That took seven years. How much did this bloody well cost the taxpayer, and it is not finished yet? It is not accept…

We need to discuss in this Chamber how this came about. The public demands answers.

Yesterday, at the media committee, we had testimony from Gráinne Seoige in relation to her experiences during the general election and subsequently. It was harrowing and I thank her for coming forward. We have all heard of many other cases of what has happened to many people, mostly women, in regard to AI tools and social media companies. In fact, I would call them publishers. They are not platfor…

I thank the Tánaiste. I am worried when I hear him talk about the Irish European Presidency. That is five months away but we do not have five weeks. He mentioned the volume of cases. How many will end up going to the very end to a prosecution? We have a situation whereby if we do not bring in legislation, this continuous sexualisation without their consent of women and men and the sharing of those…

Any chance of a speech?

Where are they?

The Minister is meant to produce the speech. And do not speak like that. That is unbecoming.

But the speech should be provided. This is a most comprehensive Bill.

And the Minister speaking like that to Members of the Opposition is not acceptable.