I thank Senator Duffy for his tribute to a former Member of this House. The Senator outlined a life well lived in a fitting tribute to Ernie’s service not only to Seanad Éireann and the country but also to his hometown and, as the Senator said, Mayo and Sligo at different times. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Before I call on the Leader to respond to the Order of Business, I welcome the father of the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, and family and friends who are here in the Gallery, along with guests of Deputy Aisling Dempsey, who are associated with the Ballivor St. Patrick’s Day parade. The guests of Deputy Eoghan Kenny from Mallow, County Cork, are all welcome to Seanad Éireann too.

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

I thank the 21 Senators who made contributions.

Senator Fiona O'Loughlin spoke first, on the green light for palliative care for the midlands hospice, which is very welcome news. She outlined the process and how difficult it was. That people came together, including her, to make it happen is very positive for the midlands area.

The Senator also spoke about Jennie's law and the announcement this morning of Cabinet approval. The Bill was drafted by the Senator and others. As she said, there was a void in legislation pointed out by Jason Poole, but it is welcome that Cabinet approval has been announced today.

Senator Boyle spoke about the distressing news of the liquidation of Tickets.ie, the effect that has on the thousands of people who were going to go to the Rory Gallagher International Festival and the €283,000 shortfall because of it. This has affected the organisers and has had a massive impact on the community that can benefit from such big events that happen within the region. I will talk to the Minister's office to see what can be done in terms of getting involved and the supports that are available for the organisers of this event because it is not their fault that this has happened. It is Tickets.ie that has gone into liquidation. The organisers should not have to suffer the consequences of it.

Senator McCarthy mentioned the alumina factory in County Limerick, which has been spoken about quite a bit recently. As the Senator said, and it is something that I am aware of, he is the chair of the Ireland-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group. The Senator and I have visited Kyiv on behalf of this Parliament to show our unwavering support for Ukraine. There is an investigation happening within the Department of enterprise and let us see what happens. The Senator outlined that information was given out that was not correct, so let us see where the investigation goes and what decisions are made. I have been in contact with a number of MPs from Ukraine who are concerned about it. I have highlighted, as much as I can, what we know. Once the Minister, Deputy Burke, finalises the investigation, decisions can hopefully be made based on that.

Senator Tully spoke about Cavan hospital and gave us another good example of issues with decisions, or lack of decisions, and lack of care for people in need. This seems like a very simple thing where kidney stones need to be removed. At no point should this end up with someone having sepsis and being brought to Beaumont Hospital while clinging to life and still waiting for the kidney stones to be removed. It seems totally unacceptable - "frustrating" is too light a word - that a simple procedure has not been followed through on. All of the complications that come with that can be so distressing for people. I note that she said that none of the Ministers from the Department of Health came to one of her Commencement matters. I will raise that with the senior Minister. I also know that the Senator has called for a debate on the issue of procedures, in particular, and I will ask the Minister's office if that is possible.

Senator Flaherty raised Horse Sport Ireland, the resignations of senior figures and the problems within that sector. It is probably important that I do not speak on that, but I understand where he is coming from on it. In terms of applying for contracts and Horse Sport Ireland being omitted from the process, that is something for the Department of agriculture to decide on. The Senator could put down a Commencement matter on it. It is a delicate issue to deal with on this floor, but the Senator has been vocal on this a number of times, and I understand that his concerns are genuine.

Senator Scahill spoke about wastewater treatment systems. A lot of inspections are happening right across the country. A lot of inspections in rural areas are recording fails. The numbers in County Roscommon are very high with 85% last year and 50% this year. It is hard for families at a time of significant costs of living to be able to fork out for a new septic tank. Although the previous Government significantly increased the supports available, it is time to review that again. I will ask the Minister for a debate on this issue for Senator Scahill.

Senator Andrews mentioned that the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill is being taken tonight. The four hours that were put down initially are just an indicative timeframe. It is not scheduled for exactly four hours. It depends on a number of factors, including how many amendments come in. Fewer amendments came in than we expected.

It depends on when the Ireland-----

The Acting Leader is talking with no interruptions.

There was a 5.5-hour debate on the Bill on Committee Stage. We will have another three-hour debate on it tonight. There are only 34 amendments and about a third of them have been ruled out of order. Some of them might be paired.

Three hours is a significant amount of time to talk about it, in our view. That will be happening tonight so I will not be accepting the amendment.

The point is that the Ireland match starts at 8 p.m.

The Acting Leader without interruption.

The Ireland match starts at 7.30 p.m.

I thought it was 8 p.m.

No, 7.30 p.m.

The coverage starts at 7.30 p.m.

Coverage is at 7.30 p.m.

So it starts at 8 p.m.

The Acting Leader without interruption.

In the greater scheme of things, this has been debated quite a lot. There has been a lot of debate, in this House and the other House, on it. It is important that we make decisions at the end of that debate.

We do have an important match tonight. In relation to the FAI, I said it the week previously and I will say it again. This is a decision for the FAI in conjunction with FIFA and UEFA. It is not for Government to get involved. In fact, if Government gets involved, there are rules in place within FIFA and UEFA. It is not just a simple fine or a points deduction. It has happened for other countries where countries have got involved and there have been further repercussions on them in terms of-----

There were no sanctions against Poland.

The Acting Leader without interruption.

-----not being involved in competitions, whether men's competitions, women's competitions, underage competitions, club, country. It has an impact in terms of hosting events, whether that is-----

Please.

-----hosting the Euro 2028 or the women's champions league final. It is not as simplistic as just having a boycott on this and there being no repercussions other than the six points and maybe a small fine to deal with. That is not the way to look at it and it is not a true reflection of what could happen. All that being said, I hope decisions will be made by the end of the week on this. It might not be to Senator Andrews's satisfaction, but certainly it will be done in terms of the safety of people more than anything else.

Senator Curley spoke on communication with Irish Water. I have had a problem with this all week in my own area in terms of communication regarding water supply and the difficulty it poses for us, as public representatives, and for councillors in particular. I totally agree with the Senator that it is time we have a debate with the Minister on that because it is incredibly frustrating when your water is out, you do not know why it is out, you do not know how long it will be out for and you are not even aware there is a boil-water notice. Back in the day, with local authorities, there used be a letter sent out and it used be on the radio but that does not seem to happen any more.

Senators O'Donovan, Costello and Clonan spoke in relation to Friedreich's ataxia and a drug that is being called upon to help young boys with a very debilitating disease. You could not help but be emotionally affected by some of the contributions from people talking about their own life. Senator O'Donovan spoke of Emma O'Shea and what she has had to deal with in terms of seeing her brother, and her parents, Ted and Kathleen, and what they have to deal with. This is incredibly frustrating. As a parent myself, I can only imagine the pain they are going through. Cost should not be a barrier with this and decisions should be made quicker. I will certainly contact the office of the Minister for Health to try to push as much as possible the concerns and requests from Senators here.

Senator Keogan spoke about the attack in Belfast. As the Senator said, we are not clear what happened. I do not know who the victim is. I know what has been said on social media and I know what is happening but certainly this is not the place to talk about it. It is not the place to make decisions in relation to the findings of it. There will be an investigation. There is a protest happening tonight. I hope that will be done peacefully. We have seen protests go out of hand here and I hope that will not happen in Belfast. As I said previously when the Senator mentioned another case, an investigation will happen. We should let the PSNI do its work. It was an awful atrocity. That video is going viral. An awful lot of people are seeing it, and it is awful. The people who came in and risked their own lives to defend that person need to be commended, but it is certainly not our place - I am not saying the Senator is doing this - for us here to have a judgment yet on what happened. The Senator spoke about other examples. The examples she used are of people who were murdered or injured by people who came into this country and are not Irish citizens. These things are done by Irish citizens as well, not just foreigners. We need to recognise too that there are a lot of good people, as the Senator herself would recognise, who come into and contribute to this country. An attack is an attack from a person who is evil and wrong; it is not because of their nationality.

I always think we need to bear that in mind.

Senator Davitt spoke about the councillors task force. I do not think we have had a debate in this House since this term started in relation to councillors, their powers, the work they do and the feeling that their powers are being diminished. I will speak with the Minister about having a debate when that task force has completed its work. The Senator is right that the Minister, Deputy James Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, have done a lot of work on it, so it is a good opportunity for them to come in here and speak about it.

Senator Linda Nelson Murray spoke about the summer holiday hunger pilot scheme, which has been a very positive scheme. The Senator did a lot of work herself not only on the hot school meals initiative but on this issue as well to prioritise it. She makes a very good point. If we are seeing that 42,000 children across Ireland need to be fed during the summer, then they obviously need to be fed during the Easter and Christmas as well. If this pilot programme is being continued, then that means it has been a success this year and there is no reason we cannot expand and continue it. When you are in government, one of the frustrations is that decisions are sometimes made quite late. You cannot understand, for the life of you, why the decision cannot be made a month or two earlier so that the children and their parents have the comfort of knowing they will get a good meal. We all know the benefit of young children having a good meal.

Senator Nessa Cosgrove spoke about the triple lock mechanism, as did Senator Tom Clonan. The triple lock legislation was before the Cabinet today and will be in the Dáil and Seanad over the next number of weeks and months. We will have ample opportunity to discuss it. I am sure that, when those discussions happen, we will have the same sort of talk about a change to neutrality, which it is not, but people have the freedom to say what they want in both Houses. Senator Cosgrove has asked for a debate and that debate will happen. The schedule up to the recess is not done up yet, but the debate will occur either before the recess or when we come back in September.

Senator Sarah O’Reilly spoke about the EU migration pact, Northern Ireland and the impact of the pact. The pact went through the Dáil and Seanad. It went to the President, who convened the Council of State on it. They had hours of discussion on the legislation and the President signed it. The pact has been debated heavily in both Houses and then signed into law by the President, but we can have a debate with the Minister for justice at any point. If the Senator wants to do that, then I am more than happy to ask for that to happen.

Senator Robbie Gallagher spoke of farmers’ health, which is something I know well in terms of my own family. I grew up on a farm. Farming has a mortality rate that is seven times higher than in other professions. Mental health is also a big thing for older farmers. Health issues are very obvious when you have people who are either living alone or working into their 70s or 80s. They have stress. One of the really good things the Government introduced a number of years ago was the discussion groups farmers have now. The initiative was concerned with improving work on farms, but it also had a real impact in terms of loneliness among farmers because they had these discussion groups to meet and talk and help one another in relation to the work they were doing. From the discussion groups my own family members are in, I know it is a very useful initiative set up by the Department of agriculture.

Senator Tom Clonan also spoke about the triple lock mechanism. He mentioned how he was a former Army officer. We respect that, but it does not mean that we have to agree with his every view just because he is a former Army officer. We have other people in this building who were in the Army and who have the totally opposite view, so how do we agree with two people who previously worked in the Army who have opposite views? When Senator Clonan talks about people who have differing views, there are loads of people who are either in the Army or are former Army members who have the opposite view to him. I respect his view, and we will have ample opportunity to discuss it going forward, but there are differing views on this issue. We also have people in the Dáil who are former Army members, and, again, they have very different views to Senator Clonan.

Senator Victor Boyhan spoke on the draft set of guidelines for apartments that have been published and are open for consultation until 7 July. The Senator welcomed that. It is very good news, and we thank Senator Boyhan for the work he did on this issue.

Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn spoke about the women’s soccer team, who have been an incredible inspiration during this campaign.

They have an opportunity tonight against France to go to the World Cup. As the Senator said, it is the first time a team has had the opportunity to go to the World Cup and fully qualify through the first process without having to go to a play-off. Going to a play-off is something the men would be lucky to do. It is a huge game tonight, and it was a massive game at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It was a great atmosphere from what I could see on TV, made all the better with a last-minute goal by Amber Barrett to put us into this position. We have a wonderful opportunity here. If the girls can win in France, it will be a fantastic achievement, or if Poland can do us a favour against Holland tonight. Carla Ward's team have been a huge inspiration and we wish them all the best; we are all behind them. It will be such a success if they get to the World Cup again. I was actually in hospital for three weeks when they were in the World Cup in 2022. I watched the games there; it kept me going. I have very fond memories of the 2022 World Cup.

Senator Martin Conway spoke about active tourism and its lack of promotion across the country. As he knows, there are many beautiful spots in Clare in terms of walkways, cycleways and mountains that have not been properly promoted. In Tipperary, St. Declan's Way has been promoted but more can be done. We will ask the Minister to come in and have a debate, not just on tourism, but on active tourism and how we can promote it further.

That concludes all contributions.

Senator Andrews has proposed an amendment to the Order of Business, seconded by Senator Keogan: "That No. 2 be taken at 5 p.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, adjourn at 9 p.m." Is the amendment being pressed?

Yes.