An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-04 ============================================================ Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel I extend my welcome to all our guests who are here. I also wish to be associated with the Cathaoirleach's kind words in relation to former Senator Tony McKenna, who has left an enduring legacy in education and inclusion. I offer my very deepest sympathy to his family and the Fianna Fáil family in Tipperary. Yesterday, I spoke about the horrific situation we saw over the last few days in the Middle East. It is good news that at least some flights are resuming today. Having been in touch with a number of people who were stranded, as I have no doubt many of us here have been, it is good to see an Emirates flight is leaving at 6 p.m. and that the Government has announced its intention to charter a flight. The hope is that there will be a number of flights, but we have to think of all those who are stranded and the difficult situation they are in. Twenty-five thousand people have registered at this stage, about 2,500 of whom need emergency support coming home. There is a huge impact in relation to what is happening. There is also an impact in relation to price gouging. To see petrol going up at the pumps hour by hour, and heating oil doubling in price over the last five days, is shocking. I would like to see the Minister for enterprise coming to the House to discuss same because it needs to be made illegal. It is absolutely shocking. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, made an announcement of extra supports around fuel allowance this morning but we need to ensure this type of price-gouging is illegal. I wish the Special Olympics Ireland team well. They are having their launch of the 2026 Ireland national games on Thursday, where athletes will qualify to go on for the world games and the European games. Special Olympics plays a vital role in promoting inclusion. The new CEO, Karen Coventry, is doing a wonderful job. The launch is on Thursday, as I said. The games will be on from 18 to 21 June and will bring 1,200 athletes together to compete across 12 sports. That is happening in Dublin. It will be supported by thousands of volunteers. I know everybody will join with me in wishing everybody well. I will also mention the autism friendly town initiative launch in Newbridge this evening at 7.30 p.m. in Scoil Mhuire. Adam Harris, the CEO of AsIAm is coming. It is important we have these community initiatives. I give a big shout-out to Jennifer and Maria who are organising that. I look forward to joining them at some stage this evening. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-04/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-04