An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (Resumed) Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-09 ============================================================ Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel 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. --- 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/2026-06-09/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-09