Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and, particularly, Senator John Crown for taking the initiative and asking Senator Mark Daly and me to join him. I was proud to do so. I also acknowledge the work done by Mr. Shane Conneely. I thank the Minister's officials and advisers. It would be remiss of me not to mention Fionn O'Callaghan, aged nine years, whom Senator John Crown brought to the first briefing on the Bill. He is a young boy from Wexford who wrote to the Taoiseach to ask him to bring forward this legislation. I have double pride in view of the fact that we are responding to a young person in Ireland who asked the Taoiseach for this legislation. It is a good day. The Bill is educational; it is a public health issue and, first and foremost, a children's rights issue. Children cannot extract themselves from a car filled with smoke. They cannot extract themselves from smoke-filled environments. We need to denormalise smoking as we are putting lives at risk. It is good and we will do everything we can to support the process in the Dáil. We will encourage it, as we need to see this Bill in place in the summer.