The division will be deferred until the weekly division time this evening.

Thank you, Deputy.

The next slot is Sinn Féin. There are eight speakers with two and a half minutes each. I ask people to respect each other and stick to the time.

I thank the Deputy. His time is up.

On the issue the Deputy raised, it is Government policy that if a service can be retained, it should be retained, like it was in Lahardaun. The people of Cavan should know that.

I express my disappointment. It is the second time I have put down this matter and the Minister has failed to show up. I want to register that strongly. I really am annoyed. I have stuff I want to put on the record but I want the Minister to be here. I say that with respect to the House and the Minister of State who is here - it is no fault of his but he has no responsibility for fisheries or for that Department. All he will do, and I did it on many occasions, is read a prepared script. There was a programme on UTV…

I did not name anybody.

I do not blame the Leas-Cheann Comhairle because I will be naming them and I will be making allegations I can stand over - every single one of them. One of them is that Mr. Gorman was treated differently from the CEO. When a disclosure was made to the Department, Mr. Gorman was suspended. Why was the CEO not suspended when allegations were made about him? To be fair to Mr. Gorman, he did nothing wrong and he won his case at the Workplace Relations Commission and won a substantial amount of money. He will be going f…

I do not know where to start. I have had so many great experiences with John Bruton. I look today at Deputy Howlin, at John Farrelly and at Deputy English and I think about many stories. Some of them I will keep for the book. To be honest, I could not repeat some of the things that happened. I will just go back to the beginning. Finola came from Westport, County Mayo. It was ironic today that we had a school visit from the Sacred Heart school in Westport. They just happened to be here today and that is the school t…

I have to say that he came down and I said "No, I am not standing. When there were Seanad nominations going, you forgot about Michael Ring, when the TDs themselves were picking the Senators who they could nominate." But anyway he came to my house on a Sunday afternoon on a miserable wet day and he begged me to go. Then I got the phone call from Phil Hogan and they got a few people from Westport - Patrick Durkan and people like that - to come to my house, and I agreed to go. I stood in the by-election in 1994 and Jo…

We move to Sinn Féin and Deputies Daly, Gould, Ó Laoghaire, Martin Browne, Paul Donnelly, Ward and Ó Murchú. I ask that they all mind their own time because when the time is up, it is up. I am telling them that before they start.

We move on now to the Rural Independent Group and the first speaker is Deputy Michael Collins.

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time later today.

Seanad Éireann has passed the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023 without recommendations and the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023 without amendment.

The Deputy's time is up.

Thank you, Deputy.

We now move on.

I thank the Deputy. The next slot is Sinn Féin. Deputy Conway-Walsh has ten minutes and Deputies Ó Murchú and Brown have five minutes each.

Deputies Shanahan and Fitzpatrick will reply to the debate on behalf of the Regional Group.

I have been lenient with the Deputy, but will he please conclude? I will give him one more minute.