What a pleasure it is to see the Cathaoirleach back in office in robust good health. I have been a Member of this House for about 33 years and I can say absolutely that he is just about the best Cathaoirleach this Seanad has ever had in that he is fair, impartial and decent.

My head was a bit swollen in St. James’s Hospital six weeks ago. I think it is starting to swell again now. I better consult my neurologist when I hear that.

I forgot that the Cathaoirleach is good-humoured as well.

I join in the expressions of sadness on the death of Paul Anthony McDermott.

He was an incisive, informative commentator on legal matters. He had a very distinctive voice. He died at the very early age of 47.

Since we are in the business of paying tributes, I would like to mention briefly the late Professor John Gilmartin. He was a most refined, elegant man who gave his life in very large part to helping to preserve Georgian architecture.

Finally, I wish to mention a rather curious person, the late Randal MacDonnell. I read his obituary, reprinted from The Telegraph, with a degree of sadness. He was a Walter Mitty figure. I remember him parading himself as Lord of the Isles until I pointed out that that title had been extinguished and absorbed by the title Prince of Wales after the Highland rebellion of 1745. He then described himself as MacDonnell of the Glens, which came as a bit of a surprise to the Earl of Antrim, whose title is actually that. I remember Randal parachuting from a helicopter, wearing a kilt and no underwear, into the college races at Trinity, somewhat to the surprise of Mr. Éamon de Valera. I would like to think Mr. de Valera's defective eyesight meant he did not catch a glimpse of the undercarriage as it floated earthwards. Randal could be charming despite his Walter Mitty character. I was sad to learn that he died in a one-room hovel in Tangier and that there was not enough money left to bury him. That is a sad, but perhaps appropriate, end to a very colourful career. I know he would have been really thrilled to get practically half a page of an obituary from The Telegraph. I would like to think he would also be pleased that he was mentioned on the record in Seanad Éireann today.

I thank the Senator for his kind remarks. I would also like to be associated with the comments on the sad passing of Paul Anthony McDermott. I was unaware of it because I was off sick. Mr. McDermott was a frequent visitor to this House and, to the best of my knowledge, he was an adviser to one of the committees I chaired as a Deputy. May he rest in peace. He was a very pleasant character. He gave very balanced advice and was sure-footed from a legal perspective.

I call on Senator O'Mahony, who is to get a second bite of the cherry.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence earlier and that of my colleagues. He is very welcome back. One's health is the most important thing in life. It is great to see the Cathaoirleach back in charge again.

I support Senators Craughwell and Humphreys regarding their comments on the FAI. I will not indulge myself in speaking about this because I wish to raise another issue. I requested the Minister to attend last week on two occasions because I had a fair idea of what was coming up on Friday. It is a mistake that the representatives of the FAI are not appearing before the committee tomorrow. We will discuss it at another stage.

I was scanning the Sunday newspapers at the weekend. I usually skip the full-page advertisements of the multinationals and so on but I could not help being struck by the fact that the price of alcohol, particularly spirits, seems to be lower this Christmas. Bottles of whiskey are available for €18 each, or two bottles for €35. Bottles of Baileys are available for €10. The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 was passed over a year ago. The commencement of the section on minimum pricing was held up because we wanted to proceed along with Northern Ireland when its Administration was back. It is not back, however, so it does not look like there will be movement on legislation in Northern Ireland. Scotland was at the European Court of Justice at the time and it won its case. It is now revealed that alcohol sales in Scotland have dropped to the lowest ever level since minimum pricing was introduced in May 2018. Therefore, it does work. In fairness to the Minister, he indicated in the past six weeks or so that he was seeking approval from the Cabinet to sign off on the relevant section of the legislation. I am not asking the Minister to come to the House but I ask the Leader to seek an update. The Minister indicated his intention six weeks ago.

I do not refer to responsible publicans or small off-licences but rather to the large multinationals that seem to sell alcohol as a loss leader.

It is great to see the Cathaoirleach back in the House looking so well. I wish him a healthy and happy recovery. We are all glad to see him back.

I am like an engine. One of the cylinders is not yet fully right but I hope it will be by the new year.

The Cathaoirleach is tough like a Cork or Kerry footballer, which is a great trait.

I raise an issue I raised in a recent Commencement debate, namely, aquaculture licence applications for Ballyness Bay in County Donegal. Since I raised the matter in the House, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine last week granted approval for 14 of the 18 applications, effectively giving approval for an area the size of 40 ha that can now be used for harvesting Pacific oysters and clams with trestles. The local community are deeply annoyed at the decision, taken swiftly by the Minister, in light of the fact that, in general, such applications take up to two years for a decision to be made. The decision in this case was made within approximately six months of the applications being submitted. There are significant questions to be answered about the public consultation process, given that the local community were not provided with the opportunity to make submissions prior to the Minister's decision. Their only option is to appeal to the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board, which is an expensive process, with each appeal costing €200. There are 14 licences, and if any group or individual appeals all the applications, it will cost €2,800.

The Minister has got the matter deeply wrong. He spoke in this House and the Dáil, and has blatantly ignored the public concerns over the issue. While nobody wants to deprive people of a livelihood or an economic benefit garnered through farming or aquaculture, the public good, as well as the destruction that could be forced on a small bay, needs to be taken into consideration. That did not happen, however, before the Minister arrived at his decision to grant the licences. It is most unfortunate. I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on the processing of aquaculture licences. Although it may not be possible before the Christmas recess, I would like the Minister to come before the House to discuss the issue in general terms early in the new year.