An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01 ============================================================ Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel Yes, but it is important we recognise that. Men's sheds have taken off in recent years. The request of €3,000 per shed is not a lot in terms of a budget measure. We can talk to the Minister on what can be done. Many men's sheds have not got any money at all. Rates are a matter for the Department and, in particular, county councils to decide. I think it is a token of gratitude. A lot of the work men's sheds do helps local authorities in terms of isolation and involvement in communities. A symbolic thing to do would involve rates. Men's sheds essentially have no money, which is not really fair. Senator McCarthy spoke about the ESB, which I have dealt with, and the EU Presidency, which I have spoken about as well, and the opportunity it brings for Ireland over the next six months, which is important. Senator Sarah O'Reilly spoke about electricity prices. We had a debate on that last night, and on removing the standing charge when a customer's electricity is gone. The Government recognised there is a cost-of-living challenge for many people. We brought forward a €750 million package two months ago to support people because of the increase in petrol and diesel prices. We will do more in the budget as we see fit. Those measures were not supported by the Senator's party. We will be there to support people in the winter period. While she is raising concerns over electricity prices and the cost of living, we are very aware that the challenges we have now could be very different in a number of months, depending on geopolitical factors that we cannot predict. Thankfully, we have the funding there. Because of Government measures and decisions in recent years, we have money set aside to help and we will help people in the budget. Senator Craughwell spoke of the EU Presidency, particularly the work our public and Civil Service have done to prepare for it and the work they will do throughout the six months. It is a massive undertaking to plan this Presidency, particularly because we are going across the country with it. At times like these, we see the incredible public service we have. The people who serve our country will leave a lasting legacy during these six months. --- 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