I call on the Deputy Leader to respond to the Order of Business.

I thank all 18 Senators who contributed to the Order of Business this morning. We started with Senator Fitzpatrick, who is convenor of the Irish-Hungarian Parliamentary Party Friendship Group and spoke about the elections in Hungary over the weekend, where we definitely saw democracy in action. We absolutely welcome the election of a pro-European Prime Minister who is progressive and forward looking. In terms of how Europe deals not just with Russia but with America as well, it is a very welcome result. Senator Fitzpatrick also made the very valid point that we need to thank Viktor Orbán for agreeing to a peaceful transition. That is important. I know many of us would never have agreed with Viktor Orbán's views or the views of his Fidesz party but it is important to acknowledge that a peaceful transition will happen there.

Senator Martin Conway also spoke about the election, welcoming the results, and we know Senator Ruane was there as an election observer.

Senator Fitzpatrick also spoke about the Five Lamps Arts Festival taking place until next Sunday, praising the creativity of the artists and the artisan creators and producers involved.

Senator Joe Conway spoke about the neglect of animals and his concern about live animal exports, not just around the live cattle themselves but the stress that workers at ports feel. It is fair to say live exports remain a vital competent of the livestock industry here and the programme for Government supports maintaining live exports as long as strict animal welfare and transport regulations are met. Having and ensuring strict animal welfare regulations is key. I take on board what Senator Conway is saying. We need to ensure that it is monitored and the regulations are kept to. Most definitely, the broader Government policy continues to treat live exports as a legitimate part of Ireland's livestock sector. We will have the Minister for agriculture coming to the House next week; I think it is next Tuesday. It will mainly be to debate the agri-supports that have been announced but there probably will be the opportunity to raise issues like this. I agree that we have to be very strong on animal welfare.

Senator Andrews spoke about the Irish Glass Bottle site and Pearse House. He said the Minister for housing has not met representatives of either site and has had repeated requests for same. To be fair, the Minister for housing has a huge portfolio and whoever were in that position would not have the opportunity to meet everybody who wished to meet him or her. We have to absolutely acknowledge that. There is also a Minister of State in that Department so if Senator Andrews has specific questions, particularly around Pearse House, he should submit a Commencement matter on that.

Senator Ruane spoke about being in Hungary after the elections and looking back at the protests over here and made the point that protests are designed to be disruptive. Protests are legitimate and hauliers, farmers and agri contractors had a very legitimate protest last week. As I said here yesterday, a lot of good, decent people we all know supported them in that.

The right to protest is something that is held very dear. People have a constitutional right to do that but they do not have a right to blockade. We saw so many situations over the few days of the blockade where people were prevented from getting to hospital for really vital, life-saving treatment. People were prevented from getting to work, getting supplies and getting fuel to be able to travel to care for those who are older and vulnerable in their own homes. That is wrong. That is not something in the spirit of trying to do the right thing. Certainly, attention was drawn to the cause. We all accept there was need to bring in more supports and thankfully the Government has done that. It is a very difficult time. However, if we are talking about legitimate protest and blockades, many of those should have been around the American Embassy and I did not see any around there because, after all, a lot of this is because of Trump’s war on Iran.

Senator Ollie Crowe spoke about a good news story – and it is always good to get a good news story in this House – about a €75 million investment in Boston Scientific in Galway, Clonmel and Cork. This is a huge boost for all the SMEs in those three areas. Boston Scientific has been in Galway alone for 30 years and manufactures about 30 million devices every year. It is a vote of confidence in Ireland and particularly in our young people. It is great to see so many of our young people here now and to know there are opportunities like this where foreign direct investment as well as indigenous employers are giving opportunities because they recognise that the education in Ireland is second to none and our workers are keen to work and learn. It is important that they be supported. It is really is good. There are 4,500 people working in the Galway plant at the moment. It is great to see it going from strength to strength.

Senator Keogan spoke about the fuel protests and mentioned the deployment of the Defence Forces. It has been very clear and articulated so many times since but I will say it here again that there was never a question of Defence Forces personnel being deployed. It was always about the Defence Forces equipment that would be needed to ensure that some of the very heavy trucks that were blocking access to fuel and to Foynes Port could be moved. That has been clarified a number of times. There was never a question of soldiers being out on our streets.

Senator Keogan also spoke about the Tricolour. I want to acknowledge the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad has done a lot of work on this and has issued booklets on how we should respect, honour and fly our flag. That is the important element.

Senator Flynn gave a very passionate response and I stand with her in what she said on how our Irish flag stands for diversity, equality and unity and should never be used as a weapon of oppression and hatred. Unfortunately, all too often, we see it being used as that. I really respect what she said.

Senator Dee Ryan spoke about funding for local authorities cleansing departments and looking for road sweeping and new bins. It is a new one on me; it is not what we call that department in Kildare but it is a good way of naming it. We all have concerns about rubbish and fly-tipping as well as vapes and the laughing gas canisters we see. There seems to be no safe way of disposing of those. It is an issue. There are great Tidy Towns groups in all our communities, villages and towns who do a brilliant job - it was wonderful to see photographs of the awards they were getting yesterday or the day before – and it must be very disheartening for them when they see very bad personal behaviour by those who do not care for the community in which they live or are visiting. A lot of this is down to personal behaviour but we have to make sure our local authorities have the adequate financing and resourcing to ensure the hard work is done around collecting rubbish, etc., but also to support the groups of volunteers, the unsung heroes, who are involved in Tidy Towns all the time.

Senator Collins spoke about the protestors getting fixed penalty fines. Gardaí did a really good job and I want to thank them for their engagement and ensuring that finally we did have a end to the blockade particularly in the city centre.

The Senator also raised the Mental Health Bill as did Senator McCarthy. It is fair to say the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has given 18 and a half hours to the debate and is giving almost four hours more today. We were to have two hours on Tuesday but regrettably, with the activities in the Dáil, that did not happen. The Senator signalled that she may call for a vote on the Order of Business.

Senator Flynn spoke about the hatred she has received in relation to what she said on the motion of no confidence in the Government. She said she has been targeted as a woman and as a member of the Traveller community. She is also targeted because she is a public representative and there is not one person in this House who has not received that type of vile language and hatred. I stand with Senator Flynn – I know we all do – on this. We all have to support one another on this. I am glad she is going to the Garda. I have gone to the Garda myself on occasion because it is important that we put it on record where this happens with these individuals. We have seen horrific results across the water in the UK as well as around Europe and the world where public representatives have been in horrific situations with fatal consequences. We have to support one another in this always.

Senator O’Reilly spoke about the price of kerosene and how hauliers and farmers were looked after in the recent Government announcements. It is not fair to say that just hauliers and farmers were looked after. The price of diesel and petrol for everybody has come down significantly. Ensuring farmers and hauliers can operate means we have security of food supply. Hauliers have been in a very difficult situation for some time. Genuinely, we would not have food or other supplies on our shelves if the Government did not step in and help them as well as stepping in for the farmers and agri-contractors who grow that food. We need to do everything we can to support the agrifood industry. It is really important.

The Senator also spoke about the peat situation. I am very familiar with it coming from Kildare. A number of us, and Senator Boyhan was very active in that, tried to do quite a bit to help those in the horticultural sector on peat. Sadly we did not succeed. It is an ongoing issue. It is also a cultural issue for our country but European regulations have to be respected. Re-wetting is important and we need to support that.

Senator Cathal Byrne spoke about the upcoming sports capital grants and looked for a debate in this House. We will look for that debate. We expect the grants will be open in summer. He is right on that because costs have gone up we should look for a higher percentage.

Having said that, we are very conscious that we do not know how long this war will go on. If it stopped tomorrow, the impacts would be felt for at least six months on fuel prices and other elements of it. I hope the Government is in a position to be able to escalate the sports awards but we will have to have a wait-and-see approach. Female participation was mentioned. When Deputy Thomas Byrne was Minister of State, he put in very strong recommendations - really more than recommendations. We saw the FAI being called to heel when it was not implementing these. I have no doubt that the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, will continue that.

Senator Conway spoke about welcoming the President of Moldova to Leinster House last week. I had intended making it, but because of traffic on the day I did not get here. It was good to see her. Obviously, Ireland is supporting the accession of Moldova to the EU.

Senator Murphy O'Mahony spoke about CAP reform. It is welcome that Mr. Barry Cowen, MEP, is one of the key negotiators on CAP and held a very important meeting in Mullingar last week in relation to it. The Senator is right in saying that it is absolutely essential to keep the current level at this point. There are concerns because we know funding has gone down 20% between tier 1 and tier 2. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, will be here next Tuesday, I think, so there will be an opportunity to raise that.

Senator McCarthy spoke about the 50% of people who go to jail who reoffend. It is very clear we need to do something. Jay Bobinac and Senator McCarthy had a briefing in the audiovisual room. I regret I could not attend it because I have no doubt it was a very interesting one. It is absolutely something we need to look at. The Senator asked that we look for support for a small pilot scheme and evaluate it. That is very worthwhile and is something we will bring to the Minister for justice. We have to be serious about reducing reoffending.

Senator Ní Chuilinn spoke about Swim Ireland and the fact there is only one swimming pool for every 81,000 people, 57% of which are in hotels. She raised a very valid point. In August 2024, the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, launched Ireland's first ever national swim plan dedicated to ensuring everybody in Ireland has the opportunity to swim, with a strong focus on access, inclusion, facilities and long-term athlete development. It is a very ambitious plan and has great vision. We have not seen enough action on it yet. We are only a year and a half into it. We will request a debate on this.

I thank Senator Boyhan for his pragmatism, which he clearly outlined. We spoke about this yesterday. I acknowledge that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has spent 18 and a half hours on this, which is a record for any Minister in terms of their own area. I hope we will get to the business and do a lot of business. A lot of the amendments are very technical in nature or are just replacing words, etc. I requested that document be circulated in order that we could look at it.

Senator Scahill spoke about an incident, a small fire, on a train he was on last week. I am really glad it did not get any bigger. I completely understand the sense of panic there might be when you are sitting on a train and you realise something like that has happened. I echo his gratitude to Irish Rail, the fire services, An Garda Síochána and the ambulance services. As he said, it is a relief to know that all of these are in place and that there is a rapid response. It is really important. He also made the point that some of the ambulance personnel raised concerns about how a number of counties are not getting the full service. Again, it comes down to that geographical disparity which should not be there. We will request a debate with the Minister for Health on that.

Senator Duffy spoke about the need for a shelter at Manulla Junction where two trains meet. He is right to look for it. I read an article recently where it was said that Irish Rail is getting €15 million - I will not say per year but it got it last year - in parking fines and about €0.5 million in clamping. I raised this during the week and said that this money should be put into facilities at train stations. It should be put into extra parking where it is needed and toilets at our main stations. It should absolutely be used to do exactly that at Manulla Junction. We have a good rail structure in our country. Fares have gone down and that was important to see. We are trying to support people and encourage them to use public transport, particularly as the price of fuel goes up, so we have to make it easier for people and look at all these things. I totally support Senator Duffy on this. He had a response from Irish Rail. Sometimes, it is difficult here because we cannot put in direct Commencements when it is Irish Rail but it is something we will approach the Minister for Transport about. That is the end of the Order of Business. I thank everybody.

I welcome the students from Donabate Community College to the Seanad Chamber. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their visit to Leinster House today. They are just arriving as we are concluding what we call the Order of Business. It happens on every sitting day in the Chamber. At the beginning, the Leader of the House comes in and sets forth what Senators will be discussing and debating for the day. We then usually have an hour assigned to allow Senators to come into the Chamber to raise any other matter that is of interest and important to them that they would like to see included in any future Order of Business. We have just concluded that and we have had Senators coming in and out for the last hour. We will move on now and conclude the Order of Business.