An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28 ============================================================ Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel I thank all of the Senators who contributed today. We started with Senator Comyn. I wish the Senator happy and safe driving in her Volvo EV. She mentioned Edward McCloskey, a Drogheda businessman who won EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. That is always a very interesting contest, with participants from lots of different backgrounds. I had the privilege of being at it once. Obviously, Mr. McCloskey's company is doing very well to win that because there is a lot of competition. WaterWipes, I understand, is the name of it. I wish Mr. McCloskey well, as he is representing Ireland in Monaco in the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year. What a lovely place to meet to do that. The Senator also mentioned Make Way Day tomorrow. It is really important that we try to walk in the shoes, so to speak. Sometimes it is sitting in the chair and rolling on the wheels as well as walking in the shoes, but it is about looking from the perspective of somebody with a disability at the small things that we all do everyday, such as parking our car or a business putting out a sandwich board. It is important we do it everyday, but tomorrow is a day to particularly highlight the public realm. It is important to note. The Senator also mentioned Amber Thursday, the local authority awareness campaign around fire, road and water safety. The Senator mentioned, and it is certainly a good idea, that all young children should have the opportunity to learn to swim and those swimming lessons should be free of charge. I totally agree, but when there are not enough swimming pools it is a real issue. I am thinking of the young people in Newbridge, Rathangan, Kildare and Monasterevin who do not have access to a public swimming pool. In fact, many of them used to go over to the pool in Portarlington but that is now closing for two years for a refurbishment. It is certainly a good idea, but we need to bring the infrastructure up to scratch as well. Senator Mark Duffy spoke about the 40th anniversary of Knock Airport, the "foggy, boggy runway" as it was called and paid tribute to the vision of Monsignor Horan, a man who was larger than life and an incredible force of nature. He had the support of so many communities not just in Mayo but right around the country. The airport has gone from strength to strength with approximately 1 million passengers a year. It was undoubtedly a beacon for the west of Ireland. When I hear of Knock airport and Monsignor Horan, I think of that wonderful song "The West's Awake" because it brought a real rejuvenation both in terms of the diaspora and business. It just shows that build it and they will come. When a person has that vision and they build something, it most certainly will be used. Senator Duffy also acknowledged Government support for the airport right throughout the years. Senator McCarthy spoke about the forced closure of the Silk Road Cafe, a really lovely cafe that is part of the Chester Beatty Library, because of its proximity to Dublin Castle and security concerns related to the EU Presidency. It is a shame. I read an article about it recently and, while I accept that sacrifices will have to be made, it is concerning that there has been a lack of engagement with the owner and no compensation put in place. We will ask that this happens as it is important. Senator McCarthy also raised the issue of planning in Ireland, which arose at the housing committee. Part of the problem is that it can vary from county to county. Planning is not an exact science but we should be able to streamline applications and decisions and ensure that people have straightforward responses even in preplanning meetings. It is important. Senator Andrews proposed an amendment to the Order of Business that was seconded by Senator Tully and which I will not be accepting. Senator Andrews also spoke about payments for the Stardust victims. I heard a small debate on "Morning Ireland" yesterday morning in relation to this issue. The Senator is correct that it should not be a flat rate because while everybody was traumatised by what happened, there were degrees of severity experienced. It should be proportionate and we will ask the Minister to look at that and to engage with the victims. Senator Crowe spoke about social media and the impact it has on our children and the fact that recent research has shown that it can be as bad for our health as smoking. He is right. We have a commitment that it will be raised during the EU Presidency but the Senator is right when he says that we need to have a consensus among our EU partners. That is the best way to deal with this crisis and let us a call it a crisis because it is. We will look for the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, to come in and talk about it. We have looked for him on several occasions. He has not come yet. I do not think he has been in the Seanad Chamber during this mandate, so we will put pressure on to try to get him here in relation to this. It is an important issue. Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about energy costs and in particular the energy costs for homeowners and renters as opposed to the energy demands for business. One should not be exclusive of the other. We should have enough energy to ensure that the house occupier is not in competition with business because we need the business element as well. She spoke about the transition to renewables. At the moment, about 46% of our energy comes from renewable sources and these businesses are paying very high development levies when setting up. I accept that in general energy costs are a concern and I assure the Senator that it is something that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Government are looking at. Senator Costello spoke about investing in our young people and about the Citywise Education awards in Tallaght with a particular mention of Elizabeth Valentine. She is so right about young people thriving in positive situations where they have positive engagements with their peers and mentors in their lives. She also spoke about visiting the new woodwork room at Rosary College. It is wonderful to go to new schools or extensions and see the home economics, woodwork and science rooms. My God, it is quite incredible to see how they are kitted out. We would all love to be back in school to be doing that again. The Senator also spoke about the drug givinostat and I thank her for organising a good briefing yesterday. It was heartbreaking to listen to those who are suffering and to the parents of those who are suffering. We will continue to bring that message back to the decision-makers, to the HSE, the Minister and, of course, to the drug companies as well. Senator Maria Byrne spoke about Ryder Cup coming to Adare Manor, which we are all looking forward to, and about the golf clubs that are coming together to encourage young people to take up golf. She said that there are seven golf clubs around Limerick. It is great to see young people participating in any sport, but golf is unique in that a person does not need a big team and they can go out at any time of the day. I know young people who have taken up the sport and they find it really good. It is certainly something that we need to encourage. I missed Senator Tully, and I apologise to her. She spoke about the recent EPA report on domestic wastewater treatment systems and about the inspections that are carried out when owners register because they are required to do so as we know. It is a fact that 59% of systems fail the test but homeowners then have access to get a grant of up to €12,000, which is significant funding. It is a concern that when systems fail the test there is a risk to health and the environment. The Senator makes a very fair point in relation to the fact that it is random testing and that if people are concerned, they should be able to request it. It is something that we will bring back to the Minister. It needs to be teased out in case everybody went looking for the test, but it could maybe be done on a phased basis to ensure that requests that come in from different geographical areas are done. It is worth a lot of merit, and we will bring it back. --- 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/2026-05-28/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-28