Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I renew calls on the Leader for debate on Syria and the appalling bombardment of civilians which continues daily in Aleppo, where yesterday 100 people were killed in the ongoing bombardment. I have circulated to group leaders in this House a motion. It is very important that Seanad Éireann speak with one voice to condemn the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria, wherever we are speaking from, be it this building or any other building. We should speak with one voice on this hugely important and grave humanitarian crisis. I am grateful to all the group leaders who have come back to me with support for the wording. I have circulated a revised wording. I will speak further with some group leaders to see if we can make sure everyone can sign up to it. The basic premise of the motion is to condemn the breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law, particularly in exposing civilian populations to indiscriminate attack, and to condemn the destruction of the essential infrastructure services, including basic medical care.It is the destruction of hospitals in particular that the UN and Médecins Sans Frontières have been highlighting with such desperation.

The motion also calls on the Government to continue to use all available diplomatic means and forums to raise the issue, co-operate with like-minded states and work towards an end to aerial bombardment, a genuine cessation of violence and humanitarian aid access. It is a motion to which everyone should be able to sign up, and I ask those groupings which have not got back to me to do so and I will try to ensure we have a motion of the entire House to put forward by tomorrow or Thursday, which we can then perhaps debate in the House when time permits with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I welcome Senator Daly's Bill on Irish Sign Language, which we will debate tomorrow. The Labour Party Senators will support it and we commend Senator Daly. I look forward to hosting a discussion on Thursday, to which all colleagues are invited, on a topic on which Senator Daly has another Bill, namely, the Irish national anthem and to look at how best legislation might proceed on the issue. I will circulate another invitation to all colleagues to the briefing on Thursday.

I thank the Leader for arranging the debate on justice matters with the Minister for Justice and Equality last week. We need to have the Minister in again given the grave crisis we see in policing, not only with the concerns about whistleblowers raised in this and the other House, but the imminent withdrawal of labour by gardaí. As I said in the debate with the Minister last week, there is a way forward potentially through taking note of what the European Court of Human Rights has said on the recognition of collective bargaining rights at national level for Garda representative associations. If those rights were accorded to Garda representative associations the issues around pay and conditions could be debated in the context of national collective bargaining talks. This is a way forward that may present itself. I would welcome the opportunity to engage again with the Minister on the issue as we face into this very serious industrial action.