Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to be associated with the vote of thanks to all of the members of staff in the Seanad and in the Houses of the Oireachtas more generally. We certainly could not do our job without their help, and also the work of our secretarial assistants. I hope all of the staff will get a well-deserved break at some stage over the summer.

I congratulate the Houses of the Oireachtas on its organisation of the Mná sa Seanad yesterday. It was great to see and hear Tras Honan. Ms Honan made such an enormous contribution to Irish life and she still has a very keen interest in it. I thank all of those who organised that event.

I welcome the fact that the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, has announced that she is going to proceed with hate crime legislation. I am conscious that the Minister has announced this on a number of occasions but it now seems to be the case that it is progressing. I commend my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin. The Senator has introduced hate crime legislation previously in the Dáil and in the Seanad. When the Senator's Bill came before this House I was fortunate to be able to second it. Such legislation is required as a matter of urgency. I ask the Deputy Leader to do everything she can to expedite this legislation.

We have finally seen the publication of the report by the Future of Media Commission yesterday. The report was delivered to the Government nine months ago. I am glad that the Government has taken on board 49 of the 50 recommendations. I am disappointed that we will not have time in this session to have a debate on the future of media. We need a debate around local and national media, how it is funded, and tackling fake news and disinformation. I ask that this House would communicate our concern around the issue of funding of RTÉ. The question of licence fee reform has been kicked down the road yet again with another working group. I understand entirely that there must be an overhaul and that there has to be a review, but when this takes place I ask that a decision is taken quickly so that the national broadcaster can have certainty with regard to its funding.