Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir for that contribution. Iarraim ar an Seanadóir Marie Sherlock, ar son Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre, labhairt. B’fhéidir gur í an duine deireanach le labhairt sa díospóireacht seo.

I pay tribute to the students from Elphin Community College, County Roscommon, who recently went to the Junk Kouture world final. Up against 60 finalists from throughout the world, they came away with a major prize sponsored by Microsoft. The ladies, Vanessa Kielty, Mary McNulty and Martha Nugent, and their teacher, Susan Prendergast, should be highly commended. This small post-primary school in the west claimed one of those prizes on the world stage. It is extraordinary. The award they got was the Microsoft STEAM …

Go raibh maith agat, a Sheanadóir. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

I hope Senator Currie has a cure for that cough or cold. I have one myself; it is going around.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Richmond.

It looks like we have a good outcome to that problem. It is a good result from the Minister. I echo the Minister of State's compliment to Senator McGahon for raising the matter, which I know is an issue for many of us currently. It has now been clarified.

It is a huge issue. In my part of the country, the land is saturated. Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí agus na hAirí Stáit, as well as the staff around the House and ushers. As always, it is nice to have the co-operation of everybody around us because it makes the smooth running of the House possible.

I extend a céad míle fáilte to the people from Belmullet. Being a Rossie, we always give a great welcome to the west except when we meet them on the football pitch. That will be happening in a few weeks. We need to beat them this year though. We hope they enjoy their day.

I join others in expressing my sympathies with the wife, daughters and extended family of Michael O'Regan. I always followed him as a journalist and I enjoyed him as a journalist. When I came to Leinster House in 2016, I got to know him really well. We became good friends. There was always a good bit of slagging between Patsy McGarry, also a well-known journalist, Michael and me about football and other things. As they would say in parts of the west, he was full of divilment. He was a really good journalist. The Ke…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. Gabhaim buíochas léi as ucht teacht anseo. I appreciate that she always deals with areas of special needs with sincerity and honesty. I wish to draw her attention to a lovely school in a rural part of County Roscommon, Granlahan National School on the Roscommon-Mayo border. It is a small school which had 32 pupils in 2022-2023 and 39 in 2023-2024. The projected figure for 2024-2025 is 42. Therefore, this is a school with growing numbers of pupils which is important…

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply. There is nothing I can argue with as such. She is right. However, I said that while there is no doubt that there has been an increase in special education teaching posts throughout the country, it looks like some of these smaller schools could lose out. I appreciate that the school authorities can have conversations with people within the system, including the NCSE and others, but the school knows of people who are being assessed at present and that it will have more need…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, Deputy O'Donnell. He is welcome. He is nearly a permanent fixture here at the moment. He has four minutes to reply to Senator Mullen.

I thank the Senator. She is in no way tight on time. I remind all Senators that we cannot identify persons, irrespective of the situation-----

We cannot do so. It is the rule. I am sorry.

I think I know at last what meridional means. Does the Minister of State have a final comment?

I sincerely thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber. I know we are sometimes annoyed when we do not have the senior Minister. However, the Minister of State has come in and handled the four issues. I also thank Senators Mullen, Keogan, Malcolm Byrne and Conway for having been here for this morning's discussion. As always, I thank the staff around the top table and the ushers. Our work is always made easier by those around us who are so helpful.

I got a call earlier to remind me today is World Radio Day. I am not sure if it is today or it was yesterday but I am going to say it is today. I spent 20 years producing and presenting music programmes, documentaries and everything else, and I want us all to note again the importance of radio in our everyday lives. National, regional and local radio tell real stories and stories about communities. Radio assists and helps people. The Leader and I are well used to Midwest Radio. I heard my colleague Senator Maria By…

I join with Senator Gallagher in wishing Dr. Rory O'Hanlon, a former Minister and TD and of course a fantastic GP in the Monaghan area, a belated happy birthday. It was great to hear him on his local radio station hale and hearty, talking about life in general and political life. He referred to the late John Bruton as well. I am sure he had a wonderful 90th birthday and we wish him well into the future. I welcome new restrictions brought in yesterday by Scottish Forestry in relation to exports of spruce timber from…

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, in relation to the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023, it be an instruction to the Committee of the whole Seanad that the Committee has the power to make amendments to the Bill which are not relevant to the subject matter of the Bill, for the purposes of: (i) increasing the borrowing limit of the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and to include the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan …

Like others, I want to spend a few minutes paying tribute to the late John Bruton. First, I extend my sincere sympathies to his wife, Finola, their four children, his brother Richard, sister Mary, their families and the extended family, and to the Deputy Leader and Fine Gael Members. I am sure many of them are quite saddened by his passing. He was a man of absolute integrity and very dependable. He was undaunted in his beliefs. He was decent, patriotic and very honourable. He was a man who had a huge interest in th…