Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt when the Senator was speaking. There have been concerns raised about the hate speech element of the Bill by many Members of the House, across all parties.The Minister has stated she does not have a consensus to move this element of the Bill and will deal with it at a later stage but she does want to advance the hate crime element. We will have a debate on it, presumably when the Department requests me to schedule the legislation and I look forward to that debate.

I put concerns on the floor of the House about the hate speech element, as outlined by Senator Mullen, in terms of definitions and things that need to be tightened up. This is our role as Senators. The Bill went through the Dáil without a whisper and was supported by almost every Member of Dáil Éireann. It was not until it came to this House that we did our job and scrutinised the legislation. Credit to the Seanad for doing our job and looking at the legislation across all parties and none. When we come back to debating it, we will have an opportunity to raise these concerns again. I commend the Minister on listening to Members and facilitating engagement with her and the Department on the legislation, which allows us to do our job. The Bill has not concluded yet but, as I have said, the Minister has given a commitment that she wishes to advance the hate crime element of the Bill at the earliest opportunity and of course I will work with the Department to schedule it.

Senator Kyne spoke about the ongoing pressures on businesses and the cost of business. He was correct in stating the Government has supported business with the increased cost of doing business grant and there also have been energy credits. There is recognition by the Government that there is still a lot of pressure, particularly on small businesses and hospitality businesses. We are all getting this throughout the country, with cafés, restaurants and pubs finding it particularly difficult. I know this will be top of the agenda for the Minister for Finance.

I take on board Senator Kyne's comments on the VAT rate. The Minister is minded to look in particular at the cost base of doing business and trying to tackle things in this regard also. I take on board Senator Kyne's comments on whether we can look at rates or other ways to support business because there is a significant cost associated with any particular measure the Minister takes. While funding in the State is in good shape, as are the economy and the Exchequer, there are a lot of demands on the Government in terms of funding various projects and various requests. We will leave it with the Minister for Finance and we look forward to the budget on 1 October and statements thereafter in the House on public expenditure and finance.

I have dealt with the contribution of Senator Mullen, who was the last Member to speak. I disagree with him on one point. He said if the Government were minded and thought what it was doing was worthwhile or good, and I am paraphrasing slightly, it would table amendments. In fairness to the Minister, she has said she will come back to it later. It is her intention to address that section of the Bill at a later point.