Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start by thanking Senator Boyhan for his kind words and by welcoming the publication of the Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022. Having had discussions with the Minister and the officials, I am quite happy that many of the measures contained in the Bill I proposed on allowing local authorities to use CCTV and other technologies to catch illegal dumping have been folded into this new legislation. I know it is about more much but these are particularly welcome measures and I look forward to cross-party support for it.

I wish to raise a proposal by Bob McCabe, who spoke on RTÉ’s “Liveline” last week, that we consider allowing those who are vulnerable to wear yellow masks to identify that they may have underlying conditions. If they chose to wear yellow masks, they could be identified and people could be particularly careful around them. Bob McCabe made that suggestion, which is worthy of consideration, and I hope the Leader brings it up with the Minister for Health.

I also wish to raise a claim by Senator Gavan, who spoke after me yesterday, that our party is in danger of being on the wrong side of history on the question of Palestine. It needs to be put on the record that as far back as 1980, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, the late Brian Lenihan Snr., supported the recognition of Palestine and a two-state solution and always favoured peace. Back in 1980, Sinn Féin was not very keen on peace and military neutrality but our party’s position on this issue has been consistent. I am quite happy to debate with Senator Gavan issues around foreign policy and being on the wrong side of history, particularly given Sinn Féin’s support for Putin, the Chinese Communist Party, the autocratic regime in Cuba and Maduro’s regime in Venezuela. We talk about the refugee crisis now but people forget that over the past decade, 6 million people have fled Venezuela. These are the models Sinn Féin has wanted us to follow.