I would like to add to the Chair's remarks on Belgium's national day and to wish the people there solidarity in light of the difficulties that they are going through with the adverse weather conditions and the loss of life they have experienced in the past 24 hours and, indeed, the expected floods today and tomorrow. We are mindful of them. We wish them safety in the next few days.

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Section 254 – Overground Telecommunication Cables) Regulations 2021 - back from committee, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021 - all Stages, to be taken at 10.15 a.m., and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 120 minutes, by the putting of one question from the Chair, which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government; the proceedings of the debate on Second Stage shall be confined to an opening contribution of ten minutes by the Minister, a contribution of eight minutes from group spokespersons, five minutes from all Senators and a reply not exceeding eight minutes by the Minister; and Committee and Remaining Stages shall be taken immediately thereafter; No. 3, Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 - all Stages, to be taken at 12.45 p.m., or 15 minutes after the conclusion of No. 2, whichever is the later, and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 90 minutes, by the putting of one question from the Chair, which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government; the proceedings of the debate on Second Stage shall be confined to an opening contribution of eight minutes by the Minister, a contribution of five minutes from all Senators and a reply not exceeding seven minutes by the Minister; and Committee and Remaining Stages shall be taken immediately thereafter; No. 4, motion regarding the extension of the relevant period within the meaning of section 9 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 (No. 1 of 2021), to be taken at 2.30 p.m., or 15 minutes after the conclusion of No. 3, whichever is the earlier, and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 45 minutes, and the proceedings shall be confined to an opening contribution of five minutes by the Minister, a contribution of four minutes from all Senators and a reply not exceeding five minutes by the Minister; No. 5, Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 - message from Dáil Éireann, to be taken at 3.30 p.m., or 15 minutes after the conclusion of No. 4, whichever is the earlier, and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion within 30 minutes; No. 6, Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2021 - Committee and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 4.15 p.m., or 15 minutes after the conclusion of No. 5, whichever is the earlier, and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after three hours, by the putting of one question from the Chair, which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government, and the proceedings shall be interrupted after two hours for 15 minutes to allow for the sanitisation of the Chamber, and the order of debate shall resume thereafter.

I second and support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. Since we mark today what is more than likely our last day sitting in this Chamber and the start of the recess, noting that everybody's work in committees and elsewhere will continue, I want to take the opportunity, on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, to thank Mr. Martin Groves and all the staff for their unfailing courtesy over the past year. It has been a difficult year for everybody. I thank the members of the Opposition and of other parties and none for their collaboration throughout the year. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his courtesy and his non-partisanship in chairing the proceedings. I thank the Leader for her inspirational leadership. She has done her utmost to secure any debate requested on any side of the House. We are all proud of her leadership in this House.

It is important to mention the number of new Covid cases announced yesterday. The number spiralled quickly. The notion of personal responsibility comes to the fore strongly in that there is only so much the State can do and only so much that can be done through vaccination. It is great to see the portal opening for those aged over 25 but we all have to take personal responsibility as we proceed.

I wish Senator Hoey the best of luck. She is getting married today. I believe it is her third attempt. Everyone will join me in wishing her health and happiness on her big day.

I took the opportunity to join the demonstration outside the convention centre on the use of peat in the horticulture industry. It included everyone from nursery workers and mushroom farmers to strawberry farmers. Senator Boyhan has raised this frequently in the House, as have I. It is beyond me how nothing has been done to try to resolve the problem given that growers and so much of our employment, food and food security are dependent on peat. Those affected have no option but to import horticultural peat from Lithuania and Holland at a great cost to the environment and at a great financial cost. Responsibility extends across four Departments. It needs to be dealt with.

We had a long debate on Jadotville last night so I do not intend to raise the matter again. Suffice it to say that there was a high level of respect for members of our Defence Forces. An article in the The Irish Times today states the number of patrol days cancelled by the Naval Service this year is already four times greater than the number for 2020. A total of 148 days were lost in the first five months of the year. This shines a light again on how those within our Defence Forces are treated in terms of employment conditions and salaries. Something needs to be done about it soon.

On behalf of Fine Gael, I thank the Cathaoirleach. I also thank Mr. Martin Groves, Ms Bridget Doody, Mr. Eden McLaughlin and the rest of the team in the Seanad Office for their diligent work over recent months in what has been a particularly difficult session, which has involved us alternating between Leinster House and the convention centre. I am referring to all the back-and-forth and late nights. We should thank and pay tribute to the staff for their work.

As Government Whip, I thank my colleagues in Fine Gael and all other Members for their support over recent months. I thank Ms Deirdre Chambers of the Whip's office for her late nights, for keeping us informed and for all the work she does. I also thank Senator Gallagher, assistant Government Whip.

One of the most frustrating things in politics is the time it takes to deliver projects. In this regard, we can all list a thousand projects we have been involved with over years. This day week, I will welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to Galway to turn the sod on the PorterShed development on Market Street. It is a co-working innovation space over two levels. Funding has been granted to fit it out and do associated works. This project has been ongoing since 2018. It is great to see it being delivered. PorterShed started on the Ceannt Station grounds in Galway as an innovation hub. It has been a great success. It has encouraged start-ups, supported job creation and attracted significant investment to the west. It received support from the Government under the regional enterprise development fund. It is great to see the project coming to fruition. The PorterShed has to move to a new location to facilitate the development of lands at Ceannt Station, which is part of a strategic site within Galway city. There is to be a new development there.

I have raised on several occasions the issue of planning and requested a debate thereon. Perhaps that can be prioritised in September. Fuaireamar droch-nuacht inné maidir le tionscadal tábhachtach i gConamara, Páirc na Mara. Bhí airgead ceadaithe don togra seo ach dhiúltaigh Comhairle Contae na Gaillimhe an t-iarratas cead pleanála. Is droch-lá do cheantar Iorras Aithneach i gConamara freisin é agus teastaíonn díospóireacht faoi chúrsaí pleanála sa tír seo. We had bad news during the week with the refusal of planning permission for the Páirc na Mara development at Cill Chiaráin, Connemara, an area that is crying out for jobs. It is an unemployment blackspot. The day of the refusal was a dark day. I hope there will be an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. This is part of the long process of getting anything built and developed in this country. My concern is that the problem is getting worse, which will deter Irish and foreign investors. Therefore, we need to prioritise planning in the autumn.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the way he has conducted his business over the past year. This is our last day of this term. I thank the Leader and, particularly, her staff and Ms Orla Murray, who are responsible for the Order of Business and our agendas every day. I thank Mr. Martin Groves, our clerk, and his staff for the way they keep us on track. Without them, I do not know where any of us would be. I ask Mr. Groves to tell his staff that we really appreciate them, the staff of the Bills Office and, more important, the greater Oireachtas family. We have ushers here. We have security people and people who clean these offices every day. We have many support-team staff. There are staff from the Office of Public Works who keep this building and these grounds. Sometimes they are forgotten. Politicians are great at talking about themselves, what they want and their hurts but it is important to remember there are many people in the big Oireachtas family. I acknowledge them for the role they play in keeping the light burning and this place open for us.

I want to be positive as we finish our term but I would like to put down an indicator of concern for the Leader concerning how we do our business in this House. We have talked about Seanad reform, enhancement and renewal. Opposition Members are not very many, as the Leader knows, and the Government has the numbers. The Government Members do not even have to be here every day; we all know that. We know the numbers, we know the position on votes, and we know the records. That is not a criticism of anybody because many who are not in this House are at this very moment in their offices doing work. Others are in committee rooms doing committee business. I understand, appreciate and acknowledge that but it is important to remember that there will come a time when some people on the other side of the House will be on this side. I spoke to some Green Party Members recently. We remembered when they sat at the back and got no look in. We all have an equal and democratic mandate to represent the people who elect us. I suggest, on a positive note, that we need to sit down and examine how we are doing our business. That is important. Everyone has a voice, experience and something to add value to the proceedings of the House. I realise the Leader respects that but I just wanted to say it.

I wish the Taoiseach and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage well as they open, at 2 o'clock this afternoon, a housing scheme under Tuath Housing in partnership with Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. They will launch 32 new homes this very day, which is positive.

We had much debate about the Land Development Agency yesterday. It was a good healthy debate. We also had a great deal of debate about planning and housing. The one thing we all want, though, are more homes for more people and this is a positive start. I also wish the Government well on its launch next week of the Housing for All policy. I hope that it will be a new start. We have had the Rebuilding Ireland policy in operation for many years, but we have not had a critical appraisal of it yet. These new initiatives are positive and should continue.

Finally, more than anyone, I wish our colleague, Senator David Norris, well. He has not been well recently, but he was in here working yesterday and I had a conversation with him. I hope the sun and the heat will boost him up. I hope as well that he will be back with us in the next term. He is a remarkable man who has shared so much and given this House so much. I hope that in the next few weeks he will have time to rekindle and re-energise himself, get well again and be back among us as his usual great self. He is a remarkable man and I would not like this term to close without acknowledging it and I wish him, and Miriam, well. I look forward to seeing him back here in the next term.