I agree to the motion proposed by Senator O'Loughlin and seconded by Senator Harmon to amend the Order of Business.

There were a large number of speakers - over 20 - so you would know we had been on recess for a week or two. Senator O'Loughlin spoke about Jennie Poole on the fifth anniversary of her passing. She spoke about the incredible work Jason and Jennie's children, Nevaeh and Zack, have done since her passing in trying to push forward domestic violence law, which will hopefully be done by next year. What happened was a tragic situation. If at all possible, there will be some positive outcome in terms of Jennie's law.

Senator O'Loughlin also spoke about Irish Rail and car parking across the country taking in over €50 million. She said this should be used to upgrade facilities in train stations. That is a very good point. A lot of train stations do not have the basic things like toilet facilities available to customers of Irish Rail right across the country. The Senator cited Newbridge as one case and there are many others across the country. When it is taking in so much in car parking fees, it is understandable to ask what the money is being spent on and whether it can be spent better.

We will look for a debate with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on train transport facilities.

Senator Brady spoke about the protests that have been happening in the past week. He mentioned he has been meeting people in Longford - and beyond, I presume - and that these are good and decent people. A lot of them are good and decent people. He acknowledged that many things have been done and that measures will hopefully ease the pain and he stated that this is an opportunity for Government to reflect. It is an opportunity for Government to reflect on decisions made going forward. The most important thing is that the significant package announced in recent days makes a difference and that these people who feel they are at the pin of their collar have that support to be able to survive and move forward.

Senator McCarthy spoke of the very sad case of Molly Dempsey, who passed away after a fatal collision in May 2024. Her mother Mary was here earlier. I pass on our condolences again to Mary and Molly's family and to the wider community. It is a tragic situation for any parent to lose a child, but especially to lose a child in circumstances that are so tragic and preventable. There is an onus on Government. I commend Senator McCarthy on the work he is doing to bring something forward so that people in Mary's position after losing a child feel justice has been served. The Senator asked for the Minister to come to the House. I suspect a Commencement matter would be the most appropriate way to bring in the Minister for justice to speak on that case.

Senator Conor Murphy spoke on the motion, which I have agreed to. It is important that there is cross-party support for it, and from the Cathaoirleach as well. That has been agreed to.

Senator Harmon spoke about Cork light rail and said a decision would be made on Friday regarding a preferred route. I can understand if there are communities and clubs in her area that feel they have not been consulted on this. For any key project to be a success in a city, consultation is the first thing needed. If that has not been done, it is very disappointing. I assume from Senator Harmon's bringing it up that a number of public representatives and Members of both Houses have heard it too. Working together could improve that consultation going forward.

The Senator also spoke of the fuel protests and budget planning. Budget planning is important and it is important that she brought it up. As she said, there are rising costs in an awful lot of things around the country, and she asked why decisions are made so late. It is because the world is changing on a weekly basis. When those decisions were made a number of weeks ago, it was said everything was under review. It is under review because we cannot predict what will happen, certainly in the war in Iran but also in any other area of the world. The Senator welcomed the measures that have been introduced. We have to remember many countries are not in Ireland's position. We have a surplus to be able to do this. When we talk about budget planning, it is the budget planning of previous years that has given us the leeway to introduce a package of €750 million in the past two weeks.

Senator Higgins spoke about Lebanon, and rightly so. It should be higher on the agenda. She and I are on the foreign affairs committee and we can highlight it there. Some of the atrocities that are happening, in terms of the displacement of people in Lebanon and 2,000 people having been murdered, are absolutely atrocious. It seems they are being done without any highlighting whatsoever. The Minister for foreign affairs and Defence, Deputy McEntee, has agreed to come to the House. I do not have a date yet but it will be in a number of weeks. She will be coming in to speak on international developments and that will be a good opportunity for the Senator to address those issues.

Senator O'Donovan also spoke about the supports and the blockades. He too said that many of these are good, decent people. I agree. The party and the Government must reflect, and that is an important thing the Government needs to do. The Senator said he had not shied away and had spoken up. He has been out meeting protesters. I know he has been engaging, whether online or in person, with people in his community on what can be done. Most importantly, he has been listening to what they are asking for, whether that is immediate support or long-term support for people in that area. That is very important.

Senator Boyle mentioned Moya Brennan, who very sadly has passed away. She was the lead singer of Clannad, an incredible band, and she was an incredible musician. Donegal always seems to have great musicians. This is a sad day, given that she and the band have given so much to the music industry and so much inspiration over the years to people across the country.

The Senator also spoke about the air ambulance for the region. This is something Senator Boyle and Councillor Boyle have been speaking about and pushing hard on, and they have been doing it for a long number of years. As Senator Boyle said, it is an area that has been cut off, so it is vital that the air ambulance is available. I know the Senator is working hard with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to push that through. I am confident, given the amount of work he is putting in to try to get it done, that it will be done. It is critical not just for Donegal, but for the whole north west.

Senator Craughwell spoke about the protests. He spoke in a different context with regard to the work that gardaí do and how they have been treated at certain protests. I have not seen that kind of interaction, although I have heard about it. I assume it was minimal. It is important that, as a House, we put on record our appreciation of gardaí and members of the Defence Forces for the work they are doing. It is a very difficult job. All of them have come in and worked long hours to make sure people are protected and supported.

I saw a video of a Garda inspector dealing with protesters in Rosslare in Wexford. It was an incredible thing to witness. His communication with the protesters was fantastic. There was no intimidation or “This is what we are going to do. This is the way it is.” He spoke to them in a calm manner, and they spoke back in a calm manner. It got a lot of traction on social media. His name is Inspector Paddy Casey from Rosslare and he needs to be commended. Many gardaí do that good communication work. The more they do that, the better the dialogue between people who might be on differing sides. The respect for gardaí will be maintained if that sort of interaction continues.

Senator Cathal Byrne raised the issue of the protesters. I know he was out meeting protesters in Wexford yesterday. As he said, many of them are our own people - ordinary, decent people. They are good people. They are good, hard-working people who are frustrated at a time when they feel they have a lot of challenges and difficulties. I have seen that at the protests in Cahir and Cashel. They are neighbours, friends and parents at our local schools. All they are looking for is support.

Although they feel they are not being listened to, it is important to say they have been. Measures worth €250 million were brought in three weeks ago, which is a hugely significant amount of funding. That has now been increased to €750 million. It is the largest package of any country across the EU per capita. It is not a small package. Again, the reason we can do it is that we have the surplus. I recognise that Senator Byrne is talking about the squeezed middle. I am confident that in the budget, income tax can be cut for the squeezed middle, as the Tánaiste has said he intends to do. Hopefully, that can be done in the future.

Senator McCormack also raised the issue of the protests and spoke about the threatening of protestors and bringing in the Army. I think there was a lot of confusion about that, and how it was proposed the Army would be brought in. It was not really to be brought in to do anything aggressive. It was just to remove vehicles if that had to be done because the Garda did not have the equipment to do it.

We will have a debate shortly about it, with Ministers of State, Deputies Timmy Dooley and Jerry Buttimer. There will be ample opportunity to talk about that in more detail.

Senator Robbie Gallagher mentioned blood transfusions. They are a very important thing. I know the Senator has brought this up numerous times in terms of levels being critically low. The normal level is seven days. He asked people to donate. I know good work has been done in Monaghan. I acknowledge the award for Linda Moore as the volunteer of the year.

Senator Nessa Cosgrove raised the accolade that Mona McSharry is receiving, namely, the freedom of Sligo. Mona is an inspiration to so many people across the country. As she said herself in terms of the determination and resilience, to come from a small village in Grange, Sligo, and to do all her sport in that region in Donegal is an incredible achievement. I was in Sligo last summer with Councillor Fergal Nealon and went out to Grange. We were on some of the beaches. You can see the small village she is from and how proud they are of what she achieved in the Olympics last year. She is a credit to her area and to Sligo. It is great to see that she is getting the freedom of Sligo.

Senator Patricia Stephenson raised the wonderful news that there was a gold and silver medal for the Ireland team at an ice hockey tournament. She also mentioned how they have to travel to Belfast because that is the only ice hockey facility in the country that they can use and that we need to use more money in relation to local sports funding. There will be a sports capital grant this year. It will be opened and clubs will have an opportunity to do it. The sports committee brought in a number of small sports clubs, not GAA, rugby or soccer clubs, such as gymnastics and cricket, that is, ones that would not get large amounts of money. From my experience of often dealing with sports clubs, you can give a large amount of money to some of the large clubs and they thank you and it is what they expected. You could then give €5,000 to a boxing club and they are over the moon and cannot believe they got it. We need to be more ambitious for some of those small clubs that they should be getting a significant amount of money because they are actually in the heart of areas that sometimes do not get that funding and need to be supported. If ice hockey is one of them, that is important too. There are an awful lot of other clubs. Boxing is one in Clonmel that I know very well. Rowing and cricket are others. Those small clubs need that support. They sometimes need help to be able to apply for that support because they would not have the same resources as bigger clubs or sports organisations. The Senator asked that we bring in the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, to discuss this. I will get the Leader's office to see if that is possible.

Senator Pauline Tully raised the issue of the package of measures, or half-measures, as she said. As I just said a few minutes ago, this is the biggest support of any EU country per capita. In saying that, I recognise and have heard myself that there are many people, particularly elderly people, with needs in respect of home heating oil and there needs to be support in that regard. As the Government, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have always said, they are still open as this continues and as the changes in fuel prices continue. I certainly agree with her that people are concerned about home heating oil. Thankfully it is not October and November and we are not going into the winter. That being said, it is still quite cold. Hopefully the weather will change but it is a worrying situation. She also noted that farmers need help. There has been a significant amount of help this week in terms of farmers. If you add up every single support that has been put in place since three weeks ago and two days ago, it amounts to 27.5 cent of support for green diesel. Hopefully that is being welcomed by farmers.

Senator Sharon Keogan spoke in relation to the protests and tax bills in general in a wider sense. Senator Cathal Byrne was talking in that sense as well that it is broader than just fuel; it is an accumulation of bills that people are dealing with.

Obviously, this Government wants to support and help them. As I said earlier, I think there is an opportunity in the debate that we will have in five minutes to outline that to the two Ministers who will be here.

Senator Collins spoke about the protests and Foynes Port. It is along the same lines, supporting what needs to be done. I did not hear those comments from the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, in Limerick about bringing out the Army, but I hope and suspect it was in relation to removing vehicles and nothing above that.

Senator Lynch spoke about Martina Quinn, in Youthreach, from the Traveller community. I have no doubt that the Senator herself is an inspiration to Martina to get involved in politics. When she is talking about hopefully having equality of opportunity to get into politics, I think the Senator is a prime example of how this House has changed in its ways, with equality of opportunity. Hopefully, we can continue that going forward. She also spoke about the protests and people getting up early in the morning. She said that Fine Gael Senators are hypocritical in their response. If the Fine Gael Senators came in here and said they support every single measure that was introduced in the last few days, Senator Flynn would be standing up and giving out. The Fine Gael Senators came in today to say that we need to reflect on some things we have got wrong, and Senator Flynn stands up to give out. I am not sure what the Fine Gael Senators could have done today to get acknowledgement from Senator Flynn like the acknowledgement that she got from a number of Senators in this House. She asked for a debate on special education. I will speak to the Leader's office and see if that is possible.

Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about the protests. She welcomed the comments by some Senators on this side of the House and she spoke about her neighbour who was on "Liveline". I heard that and thought it was a really heartfelt contribution by a man who is really struggling and needs support. We are trying to support people and the measures that are being brought in are exactly to try to support people like that, who have a business, feel passionate about their business, treat their business as if it is a child and get very upset when it is not working. It is becoming very challenging for them. That is exactly why this really large package has been brought in - to support them.

The final contribution was from Senator Andrews about the flotilla going to Israel. It is important that we support that. The Senator would know my views about Israel and the fact that we and Government can do more. I hope the people on the flotilla are treated better than they were the last time. I know the Senator and Deputy Heneghan were with that flotilla and some of the treatment was horrific, to say the least. This is important humanitarian work. They are going knowing the dangers, which is important. Hopefully there will not be anything like what happened the last time, but if there is, it is important that our Department of foreign affairs is there to support Irish citizens, whether Members of these Houses or ordinary Irish citizens, to make sure they get back safely. We will do that. I will take that on board. As I said in response to Senator Higgins's comments, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will come to the House in a couple of weeks to speak on international developments. That will be a good opportunity to raise that with her. The Senator will certainly have my support for that.

A number of Senators raised the untimely passing of former Deputy, Senator and Minister Brian O'Shea, who passed away at the age of 81. I want to be associated with those comments. As Senator Conway said, Brian was elected in 1989, on the same day my mother was elected to the Dáil. They were in neighbouring constituencies. As you find in politics, when you are in neighbouring constituencies, you end up having a very good relationship, much more than if you were in the same constituency. He was a very decent, honourable man. He was a teacher by heart, like my mother was. They got on very well. He did an awful lot for the people of Waterford. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, was at the funeral on behalf of Government to give his condolences. Brian had a wonderful career and achieved an awful lot for the country, and represented the Labour Party with real distinction over many decades.

I pass on my condolences to the Labour Party. I also want to pass on my deepest sympathies to Brian's wife, Eileen, and their children Christine, Anne, Paddy, Siobhán, John and Mary, and to his extended family, friends and colleagues on his passing. Brian is one of three Members of either the Seanad or the Dáil who passed away while we were in recess. Rory O'Hanlon, the former Minister, was one, as was the former Ceann Comhairle, Seán Barrett. I am sure there will be an opportunity at some stage to speak about them.

Well done Acting Leader.

Senator Seán Kyne is under pressure.

They will still vote for him in Galway.

Senator O'Loughlin has moved an amendment to the Order of Business, which was seconded by Senator Harmon, "That No. 57(3) be taken before No. 1." Is the amendment agreed? Agreed.