An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
============================================================

Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

On the money we are spending on the EU Presidency, we are in the fortunate position of being the fastest growing economy in Europe and having the money to spend on a Presidency. Not long ago, in 2013, we did not have a penny to spend on the Presidency and every meeting was held in Dublin Castle. Even those from Dublin will recognise the importance of branching out beyond the M50. Some 25% of the meetings that will happen during these six months will be held outside of Dublin. That brings a wider audience to the Presidency, which is important, and promotes more than just Dublin, which is also important. There is real opportunity.
I agree that the Presidency is an opportunity to push again on the EU-Israel Association Agreement. We have done a lot in the past year or more to convince other countries, with 17 or 18 of the 27 EU countries now supporting our position. It is the big ones we need to get over the line. It is very difficult but the Minister is committed to trying to do that.
Senator Paul Daly spoke about ESB EV charging points. A sign of the mindset change regarding EVs is the fact the Senator and I are both EV drivers. I suspect that 30 years ago, traditional rural people would never have thought of getting EVs and now he and I both have them. The numbers will only increase, as the Senator said. People are moving to electric vehicles. We cannot have a situation where it costs more to charge a car than to get diesel or petrol. That is just ridiculous. The variation in prices in petrol stations is crazy. The Senator gave an example of 73 cent. That basically means to charge a car fully would cost about €50, which is bonkers. To charge a car at home costs 10 cent per unit for the Senator. I think I have it for a little bit less, at 9 cent. I will not promote the company I am with. There is a lovely night-time rate. To charge a car at home overnight costs €7 or €8. We cannot have one situation where it costs €7 or €8 to charge a car and another where it costs €50, with the same amount of energy. There is an opportunity to debate that. Sales of EVs are going up dramatically. Many people in rural Ireland see the opportunity in them. It would be worthwhile to have a debate on pricing and on making sure charges work.
Senator Mullen spoke on the budget submissions of TG4. TG4 representatives were in our committee talking about the work the channel has done to promote independent production, which is important. What is good about TG4 as well is it broadcasts things like the Tour de France and local club games, where people who are not Irish speakers can become familiar with the service and product TG4 provides.

---

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/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01