The Order of Business is No. 1 and No. 2, motions regarding the election of Leas-Chathaoirleach, to be taken at the conclusion of the Order of Business and to be discussed together; No. 3, motion regarding arrangements for the taking of Commencement matters, to be taken without debate on the conclusion of No. 2; No. 4, motion regarding the restoration of Bills to the Order Paper, to be taken without debate on the conclusion of No. 3; No. 5, a motion regarding proposed approval by Seanad Éireann of a Council decision authorising the opening of negotiations for an agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on a youth experience scheme, to be taken at 5 p.m. or on the conclusion of No. 4, whichever is the later, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, time may be shared, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes, and the Minister to be given no less than five minutes to reply to the debate.

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader of the House.

I offer my congratulations to two sporting heroes. First, Sam Prendergast from Cut Bush in Kildare, who was nominated as the man of the match in the Six Nations match at Murrayfield last week. We are all incredibly proud of him. Second, another young man, Michael Noonan from Ellistown, again in Kildare, who is the 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers player who made history in Norway last week by becoming the youngest scorer in the history of European club competition.

It is great to have role models, such as Sam and Michael, in sport for our young people.

While they are true heroes and we celebrate with them, we should also take the time to commiserate as we sadly lost two young sporting heroes last week. Irish jockey, Michael O'Sullivan, who was only 24 years old, was riding Wee Charlie when he fell in Thurles on 6 February. Sadly, he passed away last Sunday. I send my deepest sympathy to Michael's family and to the whole racing community, family and industry. I understand many of the meetings were called off as a mark of respect. John Cooney, a young Galway boxer, very sadly lost his life after a fight in Belfast. We should thank both their families for their commitment in ensuring their organs were donated after they passed away. We should have a vote of sympathy in the House on those two sad deaths.

We are all aware of the importance of day care centres within our communities, towns, cities and villages. They provide a large range of day activities, including recreational, leisure and health-related. They provide the opportunity for people to socialise and to receive other services. It is a lifeline for many people, particularly for those who live in rural areas. Some are provided directly by the HSE while some other service providers provide these services on behalf of the HSE. They are important organisations in our communities. Tomorrow will mark nine weeks since operations ceased at a particular day care centre, the Allenwood Day Care. It is a very difficult time for all who use it and their families. The HSE has said it will step in. I am looking for a debate in this House in relation to the operation of day care centres. It is important.

There is no time on the clock.

I know. That was my error. I think we might be in injury time.

We will have the LAMA awards on Saturday. I thank the good people in LAMA and AILG for all the work they do. When we look at the list of the different types of awards, and the nominees are from all around the country, it is fantastic to see really good practice in local government. We have awards in everything from tourism to sustainability to festivals. Indeed, Brigid 1500 is nominated for one of the awards. It would be great if we could organise a presentation on the good practice in all of the local authorities that enhance pride of place and pride of community.

This a moment of great opportunity for Irish sport. This weekend the new League of Ireland season began and I had the good fortune of attending the Bohemians versus Shamrock Rovers game in the Aviva Stadium. It was incredible to see the energy and the enthusiasm and the sheer number of fans who attended. I compliment everyone who was involved in that. Over the weekend 51,000 people attended League of Ireland games in the Premier League division alone. If we compare that with ten years ago, just 18,000 people attended across both the League of Ireland Premier and First divisions. I congratulate my old team mate, John Mountney, who played a great game at left back for Bohemians who kept a clean sheet and got the three points.

The reason I bring this up is that before I entered politics I was involved in an initiative to create an all-island league, merging the League of Ireland in the South and the Northern Irish Premiership in the North. It was a group spearheaded by Kieran Lucid. We had former Republic of Ireland manager, Brian Kerr, on our working group, and we had engaged Dutch football consultants, Hypercube.

It created a brilliant model that would maintain the autonomy of both leagues, North and South. The model also has an advanced second phase of the competition in the second half of the season, in which both leagues would be able to maintain European places. It is a model that would elevate football throughout the island. Investment in football at grassroots level can have huge bang for your buck. It would create a great opportunity economically and keep our talent and young people on the fields and playing at elite levels.

If we invest in supporting initiatives such as the NFL, which is a good example, we also need to invest in League of Ireland academies, potentially through the shared island scheme if the all-island league is something both associations are willing to revisit. The Dutch football consultants we engaged, Hypercube, created the new Champions League format. It has created for us a model that would elevate attendances at games and sporting standards throughout the League of Ireland and in the North.

I share in the congratulations to Shamrock Rovers in its exploits in Norway last week and I wish the team well tomorrow night in Tallaght. I call on the Minister for sport to engage with us in the Seanad and have a conversation on how we can improve supporting academy players. Since Brexit, League of Ireland players do not travel to the UK until after they are 18 years of age, so there is a great opportunity to invest in our academies and improve the standard and quality of football in Ireland. Multi-annual contracts would mean we could have investment in football clubs. It would be brilliant economically and, from a sporting point of view in elevating Irish football, presents a great opportunity. I would welcome a conversation on it.