An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-26
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Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

I thank colleagues for their contributions. I will say a few words on former Senator Kyne at the end.
Senator O'Loughlin spoke about the 32 marathons in 32 days by Jordan and Cian Adams. The amount of money they have raised for dementia is phenomenal at over €1 million. It is really to be recognised. As the Senator outlined, there is a good opportunity to have a debate in this House with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on resources for people with dementia. We will see if that is possible. She also spoke about the importance of reading and investing in libraries. It is so vital, particularly for young people. I see with my own two young boys how much they benefit from reading. The last contribution of the former Minister, Paschal Donohoe, in the Lower House was about investing in libraries and reading. We need to do more of that.
Senator Boyle spoke about a drug that has been mentioned a number of times in this House and needs to be approved by the HSE. I know it has received a proposal from the drug company in respect of that illness. It needs to be brought forward. Senator Boyle could put down a Commencement matter on that issue with the Minister for Health.
Senator Keogan raised the issue of the Iranian ambassador receiving their credentials to Ireland. As she said, it is a decision by the Department and the Minister. It is always important that we have some sort of dialogue, even with countries that do not agree with us on certain things. There are a lot of countries that have questionable human rights issues; Iran is one. There are many others for which we have ambassadors in this country. I take the Senator's concerns on board and take them as genuine, but it is a matter for the Department and the Minister.
Senator Keogan made a comment in relation to Fianna Fáil colleagues. It is not for me to answer for Fianna Fáil, but in this House we have and should always have that respect between both sides. That is something that the former Leader had, as was mentioned today. We can have a robust discussion but we can do it in a respectful way. I think the majority of colleagues in this House have always acted that way. Hopefully, that can continue.
Senator Tully raised the issue of autism and the new autism assessment. She is right that it is a good opportunity for the Minister to come in to the Seanad to outline it. In fairness to Senator Tully, in her two-minute contribution she had at least 15 or 20 questions she is looking for clarity on. As public representatives, we all know families looking for early intervention for people to be assessed who might have autism. There are 22,000 people still waiting for early assessment. A lot of money has been put into it. A lot of publicity was brought to this by a girl from my parish in Tipperary, Cara Darmody, who has done an awful lot over the last number of years in launching Cara's Fund. It is timely that we would have a debate in the House with the Minister and I will request that on behalf of Senator Tully.
Senator Fitzpatrick also spoke about Jordan and Cian Adams, the amount of money that has been raised and the work they have done. She asked people in Dublin to get out to support them, which is very important.
Senator Scahill also raised Jordan and Cian and mentioned he ran with them. I am not sure how many kilometres he did, but he certainly did not do 32 days and 32 kilometres and he is a keen runner. The Senator also spoke about access to education and disabilities. Money has been put aside for that. It has always been an issue for people with disabilities that if they go into the workforce and get a job, they lose their disability allowance. That can have a real impact on that person and their family, particularly if it is a young person. We need to ensure there are no barriers for people to have a job, a full education and go into the workforce. We can have a debate on that.
Senator Craughwell spoke about the triple lock and where we are with it at present. It is currently progressing quite well and we are hoping to have it before the Houses by autumn. He outlined in his contribution the reasons it needs to be done and gave a very good example of the people coming home from peacekeeping this week. These decisions have to be made by the Irish Government as to where people who are peacekeeping will go. There will obviously be a discussion on that in both Houses when it comes to the floor. There have been many discussions in the House on it already. The committee on defence has discussed it also and people have separate issues on it. Certainly, with the background the Senator has and his understanding of the Irish Defence Forces, he outlines exactly the reason the Government wants to introduce this.
Senator O'Donovan also outlined the triple lock and the importance of it. He spoke about what many of us who were knocking on doors in recent weeks would have realised, which is that tax is a real issue. People working full time with good jobs are still struggling at the end of the week or month to pay their bills. I will speak to the Minister for Finance to try to have a debate in this House and for him to outline his priorities in the upcoming budget, to make sure people who are working hard every day can take home an income that can last a full week or month.
Senator Andrews spoke about a video by a Dublin city councillor. I have not seen it myself, but I have no doubt it is as shocking as the Senator suggested. It is probably best that I do not comment on it. I always find with these things that the more you speak about your outrage, the more publicity the person gets from it, which is totally contrary to what we want to happen. Unfortunately, some people like this get elected around the world and we have one or two in our own country. It is our job, even when we are on different political sides, to work together on issues. As the Senator said, it is about trying not to create a divide or influence or mislead people. That certainly seems to be what he suggested is happening in this video. Like the Senator, all normal public representatives would not condone that sort of carry-on.
Senator Duffy spoke on the flood relief schemes, particularly the one in Crossmolina and Ballina. The Senator welcomed and outlined the exact biggest issue for big infrastructure projects, which is dialogue with communities. The communities want these projects, but they also want consultation on when these projects are being built, so that their own lives and normal day-to-day business are not totally uprooted. There is going to be a real impact on the community for several weeks or months with road closures. It is a good opportunity for the Senator to put down a Commencement matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, regarding that consultation for homeowners on the roads that are going to be closed.
Senator Brady spoke about beef prices. He knows very well that beef prices go up and down. Farmers always have to budget not on an annual basis, but almost on a five-year basis for where beef prices will be. It is extremely challenging and very frustrating for beef farmers when they see their own price dropping but the price in a retail shop increasing. It is very difficult for people to understand how and why that could be the case. It is a good opportunity for Senator Brady to raise this issue and highlight the inconsistency of that.
Senator O'Reilly spoke about rural pubs.
Anyone from rural Ireland is well aware of the number of rural pubs which have closed over past number of years. It is happening because of a changing rural way of living, particularly in young people. You just do not see it. Back in our day we went to the rural pub first on a Saturday night before going into the town. We always looked after the rural pub. That just does not happen as much as it used to. We have made changes and commitments, particularly in the next budget on the 9% VAT rate in the hospitality sector. That does not cover every single rural pub - it only covers pubs which serve food - but it makes an impact. We are well aware that no matter whether we are talking about pubs, post offices, schools or small businesses, any closure has a massive impact on a rural community. We need to make sure we invest in rural Ireland as much as possible. That is why we have a Department solely responsible for investing in rural Ireland.
Senator Nelson Murray spoke about the support provided by the Joshua Community at its centre in Navan and the work it does for unemployed people who have unfortunately had addiction. To see their lives turned around by the work that is being done – much of this work is done voluntarily or with very little funding – is fantastic. The Senator has asked for a debate on how we can do more. We hear from Senator McCarthy on an almost weekly basis about the work that is done by Tiglin to support people who have had a knock-back in life and need a bit of support and receive it from organisations.
Senator Gallagher mentioned that this week is Tractor Safety Week. It is a timely week to have this campaign because of the weather and the sunshine. Many farmers are out on the roads. When you drive on rural roads at the moment, as I was this morning when I brought my kids to school, you come across tractors every kilometre or two. Obviously, it is very dangerous. The majority of people driving these tractors are young people. It is always important that we highlight the responsibility for safety that they have when they drive them. Some 25 lives were lost last year in farm incidents. Anyone who is from or grew up on a farm, as I did, is always aware that the family home is also a workplace. Accidents happen all the time in workplaces. You need to be so vigilant on a farm because it is a workplace where young children want to get out and see tractors and combine harvesters. That is something we always have to be conscious of and remind people of. If something happens, as Senator Gallagher said, you will be reminded every single day when you go out to the farm that a terrible accident happened on it. We do not want that to happen to anyone.
Senator Cosgrove highlighted the launch of a CYPSC report on a youth support facility that is needed for Sligo. It can be very frustrating when neighbouring counties have supports like Jigsaw. I know this because the Jigsaw facility in Thurles, County Tipperary, is wonderful for young children who suffer from anxiety or mental health issues and need supports close to them so that they do not have to travel a long distance. They have it on their doorstep and it is available for them. As the Senator said, there are a number of recommendations in that report. There could be a good opportunity for the Minister of State, who is very passionate about this, to have a discussion on the report and the recommendations put forward in it. We can see in other counties that when these facilities are put in place, they have benefits for the people of the area. I will ask the Minister of State's Department to see if that is possible.
Senator Kelleher raised farm accidents. He mentioned Embrace FARM, which is a wonderful organisation in County Laois that has done great work on awareness of farm accidents.
Senator Martin Conway also referred to farm safety. He mentioned that the Seanad Public Consultation Committee did a good lot of work on this issue previously and made some recommendations. It has been a long time since that was done. He suggested a supplementary report. It would be no harm at all to consider that, considering the week we are in.
Senator Harmon spoke about survivors of institutional abuse. Obviously, that matter has been discussed a lot in both Houses over the past number of years. The things that went on in those facilities were outrageous and that is why the Government is committed to a redress package.
I understand the Senator's views on it and her concerns and the concerns of the group she talked about. We can have a debate with the Minister about it. It is disappointing that the uptake is not as high as we would expect. I do not know whether that is because it needs to be promoted more or whether it is about people just not being aware of it, but the package is there. It does not include everyone, as the Senator said. That was a decision that was made by the Cabinet at the time. I will see if there is a possibility of having a debate on the matter.
Finally, every colleague spoke about the two by-elections in Dublin Central and Galway West. I congratulate Daniel Ennis on taking his seat as a TD for Dublin Central and wish him and his family all the best. I also congratulate the former Leader of the Seanad, now Deputy, Seán Kyne, on his election. It is wonderful that so many Senators got to know Seán over the past 18 months and saw what a decent person he is and how he works across the aisle regardless of political views. It is lovely to hear them mention that. It reinforces why we in Fine Gael thought he might be transfer friendly - people respect him and acknowledge the good work he has done. There was great work done particularly in Galway by the Galway Members and Galway councillors, as Senator Cathal Byrne mentioned. We are all in this profession and we know we have our ups and downs, and it is always lovely to see someone who has had one or two downs succeed and get back again. We will miss him here, obviously, but we all wish him well. I know he will take the unified approach he took in this House into the madder House down below.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-26