I thank the Senators and invite the Acting Leader, Senator O'Loughlin, to respond to the Order of Business.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. We started this morning with Senator Murphy, who quite rightly complimented all the ushers on how they deal with our school tours and all of the visitors who come to this House. This is the Parliament of the people. It is wonderful when everybody acknowledges when we have schools in. We have had four groups in already this morning. I thank Senator Murphy for reminding us to thank those who facilitate that. It is very important.

Senator Murphy also spoke about the sad loss of Christy Dignam. We all share in that. I was listening to recorded interviews with Christy on the radio this morning. It would bring a tear to anybody's eye. He spoke of his love for his family, his love for his wife Kathryn, his daughter, Kiera, and his three grandchildren, Cian, Jake and Ava. We extend our full sympathies to them.

The very first time I saw Christy playing was at the Kildare Derby Festival. I was about 21 years old. I will never forget the energy he showed on stage. He was just wonderful. In the week that my father was diagnosed with lung cancer, Christy was diagnosed with lung cancer. That was just over ten years ago and I have sadly since lost my dad. But every time I saw or heard Christy, I thought "You are beating this". It meant something very personal to me. He lived so much life in those 63 years. Senator Murphy outlined Christy's struggles with addiction, about which he himself was open. We have all learned so much from him and I extend our deepest sympathy to his family and his friends.

Senator McGahon spoke about the vacant property scheme and the grants.

I assume he is talking about the Croí Cónaithe scheme. He spoke about an anomaly whereby one bank has not passed on the proper communications to branches regarding the first call on a mortgage and the dichotomy between banks and councils. He acknowledged that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has fixed this problem. It is a pity he did not mention the bank because I would rather call out a bank that is not giving the correct information to branches. There seems to be poor communication, despite the fact the Minister has fixed this. The Senator sought an assurance that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has given a clear indication of the position. I will ask the Minister for the information. I have no doubt that has happened.

Senator Clonan spoke about Christy being from Finglas and other relevant and notable musicians from the area. His key issue was the Ombudsman report on deficiencies for disabled drivers. That was brought up late in the day. We should look for a debate on this. It falls between the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities and the Minister for Transport, as indeed so many things do. I will have a meeting with both later about a different issue because it falls between two stools. We will certainly look for that.

Senator Gavan spoke about the situation in Turkey, a country that still aspires to become a member of the EU. The way it treats its prisoners is absolutely shocking. Academics, journalists and peaceful people who call out the bad things that are happening under the regime are deemed as terrorists and put into jail with no parole, hope of early release or family visits. It is really wrong. He also spoke about the release of Julian Assange. Across Europe we are, sadly, seeing situations whereby people are being put into jail for no apparent reason. This may be something we can have a debate about further down the line.

Senator Hoey spoke about the shocking situation with Tara Mines. Our first thoughts have to be with the families of those impacted. Senator Cassells had a Commencement Matter earlier on this. I understand from what I hear that the Government is working very closely with the management of Tara Mines. We should ask for a briefing, something which was echoed by other Senators. We do not need to have a debate, but there should be an opportunity for the Ministers, Deputies Coveney and Humphreys, in particular, to come before the House. We should look for a briefing tomorrow, if we can. It is certainly something we will request. Apart from the 650 people employed by the mine, many businesses are connected to it and rely on the business they have been given from it. It is crucially important for the people of Meath and the surrounding areas, as Senator O'Reilly mentioned. Councillor Paddy Meade was very busy on the phones this morning. He contacted me. Fair play to him.

He canvassed the whole of the Seanad.

He is absolutely on the ball. Senator Davitt spoke about the impact of Tara Mines on Westmeath.

Senator Paddy Burke expressed his sympathies on the death of former colleague, Paul Coghlan. I would like to be associated with that, as I know everybody else in the House would be. He spoke about the disability grants report. It is a priority that we have a debate on that.

Senator Craughwell spoke about the independent review group. Under a freedom of information request, correspondence between the then chief of staff and the Department of Defence was released. He referred to the unfortunate situation whereby the independent monitoring group was disbanded and became an independent review group. We take note of his comments.

Senator Ned O'Sullivan spoke about the briefing with the INTO. I have not yet attended, but I hope to do so after the Order of Business. He is correct about the middle management situation. Schools are dealing with more than they have ever dealt with. I take my hat off to teachers, principals and all of those involved in the school community. They are doing an incredible job in all of our communities and they need to have middle management restored. The Minister for Education has gone quite a distance in terms of starting to restore middle management, we need it fully restored. We will bring that message back to her very strongly.

Senator O'Reilly spoke about Tara Mines and the INTO, and the need for a further reduction in class sizes. She is correct. It is important to point out that we have the lowest ever pupil-teacher ratio right now. Since the Minister for Education took up office the number has decreased by one every year. We hope to continue that progress. We need to acknowledge the schoolbook scheme that has been introduced and will be in place in September for primary schools means parents will not have to pay for books. It is important to acknowledge the many positive developments that the Minister has put in place for education, in terms of a reduction in class sizes and supporting those who are vulnerable and have extra needs, as the Senator pointed out.

Senator Boyhan also raised disability matters and the INTO, and supported them.

Senator Boylan spoke about the EPA report, which I have not seen. She said there has been no significant improvement in water quality. It is regrettable because it is hugely important. She is correct that farmers feel demonised; they do. I was on the farm of Stephen Byrne in Monasterevin, County Kildare, recently. He showed me the measures he has put in place to improve water quality. Farmers understand the situation and know what they need to do. They are doing the work but they not getting the results quickly enough. The Senator asked for a debate on just transition and to counteract the negative stories were hearing about agriculture. The majority of our farmers are taking very positive steps in terms of climate action. We will look for a debate on that.

Senator Keoghan raised the issue of Tara Mines. As I said, we will certainly look for a briefing. It is urgent. If we do not have one today, we need to have one tomorrow. We will contact the two Ministers straightaway.

Senator Fitzpatrick is right. We all talk about the leaving certificate before it starts. It is important to acknowledge that students have reached the halfway mark. We have typical exam weather. Everybody is with the students. I saw quite a bit of coverage of the fallout regarding the maths paper. I have no doubt that will be taken into consideration in marking because most often that is the case. In terms of the direction she feels the Minister should take on the State exams board, I agree that we want young people to flourish and to be given the opportunity to show what they know and have learned, assimilated and understand, rather than rote learning. To be fair, in general we are starting to see a move from being able to assimilate and rote learning.

I welcome the young people and older people that are here. It is lovely to see you all and we hope you enjoy the day.

I welcome our guests to the Gallery. The young people are very welcome. I hope they have no homework for the rest of the week. Our non-young people who are not students are very welcome as well. Enjoy your visit.