Let us congratulate him on having it published.

I am not lecturing the Senator.

I ask Senator Craughwell to address the Order of Business, please.

I should not say this as Cathaoirleach but there are enough people hawking themselves around the country to all sorts of shindigs and gigs that they would want to have a look at this constituency initiative. I congratulate Senator Craughwell on his articles being published and I ask that the Senator might circulate them so that we can read them, please. It is always good to have Members of the House having articles published in different types of journals, whatever their views are. I call Senator Davitt Davitt to s…

I welcome Councillor Anna Grainger and her guests to the Public Gallery. I also welcome the guests of Deputy Noel Grealish from Castlegar in County Galway. I see a familiar face in the Gallery, Mike Connolly, who broke Cork hearts on Sunday. He is very welcome to Leinster House. He is one of the finest hurlers to play for Galway and to grace the field of Croke Park. He is one of the great Connollys of Castlegar. Cuirim fíorfháilte roimh gach duine inniu.

As Cathaoirleach, I join with Senator Davitt, Senator Dooley and the Leader in expressing our deep gratitude to the men and women who are serving at Camp Shamrock. Our thoughts are with them and we hope that everything we can do as a State will be done to protect them. As the Leader said, they are 7 km from the Israeli border and they are doing great work. We send them our best wishes and deep appreciation.

I have received notice from the following Senators that they propose to raise the following matters: Senator John Cummins - The need for the Minister for Health to make a statement on the annual savings made from periodic reviews of medical cards for over-70s versus the cost of carrying out such reviews. Senator Victor Boyhan - The need for the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to make a statement on the decision by St. John of God Community Services to transfer its service responsi…

I welcome the parliamentary delegation from Canada, led by the Speaker of the Canadian Senate, the Honourable Raymonde Gagné. Ambassador Nancy Smyth is also welcome. Céad míle fáilte to Leinster House. I thank them for being here. The delegation is engaging with many aspects of our parliamentary community and the chair of the Canadian-French group, Deputy Stanton, has been a key player in this visit.

I welcome the students from Carlow Educate Together who are here. Members will be aware a good friend of all of us in the parliamentary community, Michael O'Regan, passed away at the weekend. He died suddenly on Sunday. He was a former parliamentary reporter, political analyst, author and broadcaster, lately of The Irish Times . He grew up in Blennerville, west Kerry. Newspapers, books and poetry were a constant feature of his life. That resulted in him pursuing journalism, in which he had a long, varied and accomp…

I also acknowledge, as part of the delegation from the Canadian Senate, Senators Jane Cordy, Percy Mockler and Colin Deacon. They are all welcome and I thank them for being here. I thank Ambassador Smyth for the work she is doing in Ireland on behalf of the Canadian Government and for her engagement with us in the Parliament.

Before I call on Senator McGahon, I welcome the members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians who are here from all across the United States. It is great to have people from Canada and America in the Gallery. They are very welcome. Enjoy your visit. Céad míle fáilte.

The next speaker is Senator Malcolm Byrne. I thank him for bringing the President of the New South Wales Legislative Council, Ben Franklin, to Leinster House today. He has had a very interesting and varied political career and it was great to meet him.

I welcome the students from St. Brendan’s College in Belmullet, County Mayo, to the Gallery. They are ably represented by our Leader, Senator Chambers, who is flying the Mayo flag here in Leinster House. I thank them for being here and hope they will have a good visit and learn something positive from their engagement with us.

This is the Order of Business.

Senator Mullen had his chance.

Senator Mullen.

Senator Mullen.

Senator Mullen is a long-standing Member of the House. He knows the rules of the House in terms of engagement. He was afforded, without interruption, his opportunity to speak on the Order of Business. I ask him to please let Senator Ahearn do likewise. I appreciate that.

I remind all Members that there are two minutes each to contribute to the Order of Business.

I welcome Anna to the Public Gallery and thank her for her engagement with Senator Flynn and for outlining an important issue of mental health and the score card. I thank her very much indeed. I hope she had a good week or two weeks of work experience and that it has instilled in her a love of politics, public affairs and public service. Congratulations.