An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-18 ============================================================ Fiona O'Loughlin (FF), Administrative Panel I thank the 17 Senators who contributed on the Order of Business. As Deputy Leader I add my voice to the congratulations to Senators Ahearn and Byrne. In the month or so since the by-election in Galway, I have been working closely Senator Ahearn. We have worked very well together and I look forward to that continuing. It is also really important we have co-operation not just between the two Government parties that are in coalition but that we have co-operation and work effectively with the leaders of all the groupings in the Seanad. We will disagree on policy and possibly on implementation of certain policies, but having smooth running of the Seanad and showing respect for each and every Member is really important, and that is an important role for the Leader. I again wish both Senators well. We started with Senator Fitzpatrick. She spoke about how we see negative news about housing on an ongoing basis but, while recognising the challenges, we should also recognise the wins and the progress. The funds that were allocated three days ago are definitely a good news story. I was delighted to see 82 projects nationwide being allocated funding. The Senator mentioned the funding for Dublin, in particular for Ballyfermot and St. Teresa's Gardens. Unlocking the possibility of 3,000 houses is certainly good news. I had the opportunity on Tuesday to talk about our own in Kildare, which is important as well. We have to continue building on progress and building momentum. I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for reminding us of that. Retail crime is a really serious issue and we had a meeting with RGDATA, I think last year, on the ongoing huge problem with this type of crime. We see multiple individuals on multiple charges on an ongoing basis. The few times I have been in a courtroom, the number of people who were returning really bothered me. It is difficult, to be fair, for gardaí too and very frustrating for them. For some people it is casual opportunism but, as Senator Fitzpatrick said, for many it is not as they are shoplifting to order. It is shoplifting by organised crime. There is a retail task force and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is very conscious of the issue, but I agree we need to have an informed debate on it. We need to look at some type of solution-based focus but also to look at the judicial system. That absolutely needs reform because when we have people doing this on an ongoing basis, that is not good enough. Senator Fitzpatrick also raised the cleanliness of the public domain. There is quite a bit of debate at the moment about Dublin in particular. There needs to be a focus on cleanliness, street cleaning and waste collection, as she said. I had the opportunity to speak to the incoming mayor, Daryl Barron, recently and it is going to be a key focus for him. Senator Mullen welcomed the ambassador and spoke about the links between Luxembourg and Carlow, as well as about the vote in the Dáil last night. He was unfair to call out the Taoiseach and Tánaiste for how they voted. It was agreed at different times within each party that every member of the party would have a conscience vote, and I believe that is the right way to go. Both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste voted according to what they felt was correct and we should absolutely not be calling them out for that. It is a free vote for everybody no matter what status you hold within the party and it will be a free vote within those two parties when the Bill comes to this House. Not every party has that. It is up to each party to decide whether it is going to have a collective view and have the whip in place or a free vote. It is not up to any other party or an Independent Member to comment on that. It is a very sensitive social issue with sincerely held views on both sides of this argument, and I genuinely respect the views on both sides, as we all need to do. It is not fair to say the Taoiseach is captured by a lobby group. We have to listen to both sides and we also have to listen to the women who have been impacted and the women who have crisis pregnancies. This includes listening to those who have spoken about abortion regret. We had other comments later on about that. Senator Collins also spoke about this, expressing the view, as did Senator Andrews, that men would not be asked to delay for three days in relation to a decision. Senator Collins also spoke about childcare, those in core funding and those that may be coming out. We certainly do not want to see providers coming out of core funding. About 93% of childcare operators are in core funding and apparently those that have opted out are slowly coming back in. That is good but we want to try to get everyone into core funding. It is very difficult, especially on the parents, when children are going to childcare providers that are not within core funding because they have to pay more as well. Childcare is very complex and it needs to work for everybody. It needs to work for the children, their parents, the owners and operators and those who are working within it. It is a very valuable resource for society and we absolutely need to work together. I will ask that the fee increase assessment to be open. I will certainly write to the Minister on that. On Friday evening I visited Tír na nÓg in Athy and they were celebrating 30 years in existence. Kathleen, Lorraine and their family and they had a little graduation ceremony celebrating 30 years serving families in Athy. We have to support them all in whatever way we can. Senator Comyn spoke about news coming from Drogheda this morning that the small hospital that has been there since 1907 and has 14 step-down beds is in danger of closing. --- 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/2026-06-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-18