As leader of the Independent group, I join colleagues in wishing the Cathaoirleach and all members of staff, including the Clerk of the Seanad, Ms Deirdre Lane, and the other clerks and the ushers, a happy Christmas. During the years we notice rolling change and many of the old familiar faces are gone. We wish well those who have gone, including those who have very recently retired. They have performed a very remarkable service and have made life in this House so much easier. We wish them a good holiday and a happy Christmas.

I cannot help noticing the very large number of debates which are being guillotined. This is a practice that the Government initially set its face against. It is a pity it is happening. I do not blame the Leader at all. In the calm light of the new year, we should approach the Government requesting an end to the practice of having a Gadarene rush of legislation in the days leading up to Christmas. There is no need for it. If Government business were properly planned and if we had the correct number of professionally qualified draftspeople, there would be absolutely no need for it. Guillotining is bad practice and leads to defects in legislation. It is very much to be regretted.

As I speak, there are approximately ten Members of Seanad Éireann, or one sixth of the membership, in the House. I will have to leave after I speak, for which I apologise, but I usually stay here for the whole Order of Business. Increasingly, I have noticed colleagues floating in just as the Order of Business is about to end, asking a question and then floating out again. That treats not only Seanad Éireann but also colleagues with disrespect. This is a vital part of the day's business and should be treated with respect. I hope we will address this in the new year. Whether we will have time to do so before this Parliament disappears, I just do not know. However, it is a practice that we need to address because it leads to a ravelling of the essential strength and core of Seanad Éireann.

The Senator should note that, of the ten Members present, six are from Fine Gael.

Yes. The Government side has a majority.

We are all Senators.

We are and some of us are even elected by real electorates of 65,000 and 100,000.

I wish the Senator a happy Christmas. It is appropriate on the last sitting day of the year to wish all 60 Senators who are hardworking a very happy Christmas. It is our duty to acknowledge our great Clerk, Ms Deirdre Lane, and Mr. Martin Groves, in addition to their assistants, Mr. Ronan Curran, Ms Niamh O'Grady and Ms Aisling Hart. I also acknowledge Ms Keishia Taylor who left us recently. The staff run a very efficient office and are always present, courteous and helpful. Of all the people I have ever worked with in many different guises during the years, the staff in the Seanad Office are among the best I have ever come across. These remarks also apply to the Leader's office. Ms Orla Murray and Mr. Frank Mulqueen keep that office going, much of the time under severe pressure. Obviously, Ministers are demanding that legislation be passed. The Leader must try to co-ordinate business to ensure sufficient time is devoted to legislating. I agree with Senator David Norris that the Leader has done a phenomenal job and deserves an easy couple of days before Christmas. We wish him well in that regard.

I look forward to being back in January. A few weeks ago, I actually did not believe we would be back, but it now appears we will be back for at least two or three weeks in January. The next six months will be challenging and difficult, but I believe all 60 Senators who have worked here for the past five years have done an amazing job. The Seanad would be well served if all 60 were returned. Of course, there are some Senators retiring, including Senators Feargal Quinn and John Crown. I wish them well also.

Twenty to 25 Senators speak every morning on the Order of Business. As the Order of Business is for a set period of 55 minutes, not everybody gets to contribute in any case.

I welcome our colleague, Deputy Tom Barry, to the House and wish him well in the general election. I hope he does not get too attached to this House today on seeing how it works.

I wish the Cathaoirleach well and thank him for his wonderful chairing of the Seanad in the past four or five years.

He has been exemplary in his work, as everyone must agree, as has the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Senator Denis O'Donovan. I thank the Clerk, the Clerk Assistant and all the staff who are part and parcel of this work in the Seanad and wish them a very happy Christmas and a successful new year. I find it a very effective and efficient organisation. Much of that is owed to the Cathaoirleach, the Government Leader and Whip and the Opposition leader and Whip, Senator Diarmuid Wilson. Much good work has been done in the past four or five years, particularly in the past 12 months when many Bills were amended in this House which would not otherwise have been amended. I compliment Senator John Crown on bringing the ban on smoking in cars through the House.

As a former Minister of State with responsibility for trade and marketing, will the Leader arrange for a debate early in January to call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to review the trade embargo on Russia. This is a personal call on my own behalf. I am not speaking on behalf of any party but as someone who was a trade Minister. We are aware of and condemn the annexing of Crimea and part of Ukraine by Russia. However, Italy has decided to ignore the EU embargo and trade with Russia again. This is an open economy and we export most of our beef and dairy produce. We are a very efficient producer. It is a major blow to the farming industry that, under European Union law, we can no longer trade with Russia, one of our great friends and trading partners. Given that the Italians have moved in that direction, we should look at this. There is also a precedent. In 1982, when Argentina invaded its occupied islands of the Malvinas, or the Falklands, as others know them, which were occupied by the British Government, we decided not to go along with a European Union embargo. Charles J. Haughey who was then Taoiseach decided that he would continue to trade with Argentina. That is my recollection of what happened at that time. We should take an independent stand on international affairs. We were neutral in the Second World War and should remain neutral on international issues involving countries such as Russia, the United States and the European Union. I ask the Leader to consider making contact with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and asking him to come in, hear the views of Seanad Éireann in this regard and discuss the position on Ukraine, Crimea, Russia and the European Union.

I join colleagues in wishing the Cathaoirleach, the Leas-Chathaoirleach and all the Members of the House a very happy, peaceful and healthy Christmas. I also join in the words of thanks to the hard-working staff of the House. We have had a highly productive year. Much very significant legislation went through the House and we had many late sittings. The staff of the House gave exemplary service under the leadership of the Clerk of the Seanad, Ms Deirdre Lane, and all the backup team. I will not risk leaving somebody out by mentioning all the names but compliment the ushers and all the staff throughout the House who make life easy for us all and ensure that when we have visitors to the House, they are well looked after.

I welcome Deputy Tom Barry to the Visitors Gallery today, with all the students from around the country, including the Deputy's daughter, Fiona. I know that there are students from Garbally College in Ballinasloe due in shortly.

It has been a difficult few weeks for many people whose businesses, homes and farms have been flooded. Our thoughts are with them. I pay tribute to all those who helped out during the crisis, including local authority staff, the Red Cross, the Army and all the communities that came together. It is welcome that the Government has made available quite an amount of aid to assist business and home owners. The one message we want to get out today is that towns such as Ballinasloe, Athlone and Bandon are all open for business. I call on people to give as much business and support as they can in the remaining week before Christmas to the towns worst impacted by the flooding.

I urge everybody to be very careful on the roads over Christmas and to ensure no family is visited with a road tragedy as a result of over-use of alcohol. I wish everyone a happy Christmas agus, mar a dúirt Seanadóir eile, go mbeirimid beo ag an am seo arís.

I join in the good wishes to the Cathaoirleach, the Leader, all the staff in the Bills Office and the Seanad Office, the ushers and the people who serve us so splendidly throughout the year. I thank all the Senators, from the father of the House to its newest Member, Senator Máiría Cahill. We must wish the Members of the Seanad many happy returns, the appropriate greeting. A Christmas Carol was published this week back in 1843. There are some nice quotations from it: "it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself" and "there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour". I wish that to all the Senators.

I congratulate Ms Arlene Foster who has made an important step today towards becoming the first woman Prime Minister on the island of Ireland. This would result in a gender balance in that, in both jurisdictions, the top jobs would be held by one man and one woman. We wish Ms Foster, a native of near Lisnaskea and a graduate of Queen's University, well as she advances her political career.

I welcome Janet Yellen's raising of interest rates in the United States. It is a welcome sign of a return to normality in economic policy in the western world. It is a step towards recovery from the abnormality with which this House has had to cope since 2007 or 2008 and gives optimism for the future. I thank everybody in the House and all those associated with it for the valuable work that has contributed to the betterment of the country again this year.

I join in the Christmas greetings and good wishes to the Cathaoirleach, the Clerk and all the staff who have been so helpful to us throughout the year.

Senators Paschal Mooney and David Norris referred to the use of the guillotine. I do not like the use of that word. It is not what the Leader intended at all. In fairness to Senator Paschal Mooney, he was not attempting to be hard hitting, nor was Senator David Norris. They know that given the agreement between us on the issues - the Senator mentioned the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill as one instance - the timeline laid out by the Leader is not a use of the guillotine at all. There will be plenty of time allocated to talk those things out. This House has a very good tradition of not having what might be referred to as a genuine use of the guillotine. I think that was only brought into operation here once in the past term. We get on with our business constructively and happily and a good job has been done by this House. Long may it be so. Best wishes to everybody.