An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Maria Byrne (FG), Agricultural Panel

In a personal capacity, I congratulate the Leader along with his wife Laura, sons Jamie and Daniel, his father, Liam, and his brothers. I had the privilege of knowing his late mother, Theresa, and I know she would have been very proud of him today. The contribution the Ahearn family have made, both in local authority life and here in the Houses of the Oireachtas, has been referred to here already. I wish him all the very best of luck in his new role. I know he had a good training ground in recent weeks and he will be fantastic in the job.
Last week the Limerick Post carried an interview with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. It dealt with collaboration between industry and education and how that is encouraging some large companies to locate in the mid-west. On the 50th anniversary of Analog Devices being in Limerick, which has had a recent expansion, it is great to see that collaboration between education and industry. We are very lucky to have three third level institutes in the region. UL collaborates with over 400 companies. TUS collaborates with 200 companies. Mary I also has collaboration, as do the ETBs. It has been fantastic in bringing companies from across the water to locate in the mid-west.
There is a report on the Shannon Estuary task force which was commissioned back when Leo Varadkar was Taoiseach.
There was input from industry and the chamber of commerce and many people had input into it. There is a tourism piece and an industry piece in it. The report still has not been initiated or brought forward. There is so much opportunity, especially with the River Shannon in terms of wind energy. There is so much in that report that needs to be looked at. Will the Leader contact the Minister, Deputy Burke, on supporting the bringing forward of that report for the mid-west?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23