An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-16
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Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

I am very conscious that No. 10 is to be taken at 11.30 a.m. and it is now 11.30 a.m. I will be brief.
I will make a note of any contributions relating to debates for when we come back in September. There were a lot of calls for debates. I will make sure there is a significant amount of time for a debate about drugs, in particular, because it is an important piece of legislation. To anyone who has called for a debate, I hope we will have opportunities when we come back in September. I will record those requests and try to facilitate them as much as psosible.
Unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment proposed by Senator Andrews. The Order of Business has been lined out and I cannot accept it. I understand Senator Higgins's point about planning and the Department of housing. We have been here for a number of years and she is correct; a lot of it has come through in July. Technically, it is for the Leader to set out the timeline of debates but I understand the frustration when it comes late or when there is little scope for debate. The motions, in fairness, were referred to committee for debate. It is not like they just arrived this morning, but I accept exactly what Senator Higgins said.
Like everyone else, I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Aileen, Martin and all the staff in the Seanad. They have done incredible work over the past number of months. There has been a lot of legislation coming though the House, particularly in the past month. They have put a lot of work in. I wish them and their families all the best over the summer. We will have a busy time coming back in September with an expected by-election to this House, which will create more work for them.
To all colleagues across the House, on a personal level, I thank them for the last number of weeks since I took over as Leader of the Seanad. It has been a busy number of weeks for all of us. I wish them, their families and their staff, who have put in incredible work, a happy summer.
We spoke about positivity. If you just talk about soccer to Senator Andrews, the positivity comes out naturally straight away. That is my strategy with him every time and it seems to work. There is positivity there; you just need to find it in people. I say that half-jokingly. I wish everyone a happy summer. I am looking forward to coming back in September to work on important stuff, as people outlined in their contributions, which we can get stuck into when we come back.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:17+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-16