An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2021-04-19
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Niall Ó Donnghaile (SF), Administrative Panel

That might be a controversial comment.
We are all very proud of President Higgins and have a deep affinity with him. Seeing all of the nice, positive sentiments expressed on social media yesterday was a reminder for many of us that we still do not have the opportunity to vote for our President, even though we do have that connection with the office and the office holder. As we move out of the restrictions and the lockdown, it would be useful to have statements from the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government on the safe holding of the electoral and democratic process and how we will be able to return to that. This is a programme for Government commitment and is something that all parties support. The convention on the Constitution also supported it way back when. It is important to find out, as soon as possible, how referendums can and will be held safely.
Very briefly, I want to acknowledge the apology from Randox for a memo issued to staff in west County Donegal encouraging them to use the English language only. It is a real travesty that a company would issue such a memo in a Gaeltacht area, having been supported by Údarás na Gaeltachta, a Gaeltacht enterprise agency. I sincerely hope lessons have been learned. It was important that the apology came and I hope we do not see a repeat of this, not least in Gaeltacht areas.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-04-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:11+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-04-19