I ask the Senator to take his seat.

I ask Senator Clonan to take his seat.

I am not removing anybody-----

-----I will suspend the House.

I cannot call on the Minister of State if the Senator does not take his seat.

Senator Clonan, will you please take your seat?

I am going to suspend the House.

Senator Clonan, please take your seat.

I am suspending the House until 11.30 a.m.

The House is now suspended.

I agree with and support the Order of Business for today. I commend Fine Gael, in particular, on its Private Member's motion on family carers. It will be an interesting debate, an active and robust one. I note that my colleague, Senator Tom Clonan, has submitted amendments to the motion, on which I will be speaking. I hope there will be good attendance in this House for what is a very important matter. I thank Fine Gael for using its Private Members’ time. I look forward to engaging on that later. Yesterday, I rais…

I second the amendment.

I welcome the Minister of State and join colleagues in acknowledging her deep commitment to the disability sector. I also acknowledge the work of her colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who leads the national carers' strategy. They have collaborated since the day they were appointed as Ministers of State. Anyone who observes them operating in this House, the Lower House and in committees knows they are a formidable pair who are committed to getting on with the work. It is important to acknowledge that.…

I second the amendment.

I join in sending my sympathies to John Connor’s family. I knew John Connor well and I engaged with him on many occasions. One of the abiding memories I have of him is his great skill as an orator. He could make his words come alive in this Chamber and in the Dáil. It is a skill not too many politicians have but he had in buckets and abundance. He was passionate about rural life, Roscommon and his party. He had the skill to bring the passion in an ordered way with clarity, function, purpose and thought, and bedded …

I join my colleagues in supporting the amendment of the Order of Business today. The Leader and all my colleagues across the House will recall the lively debates we had in the run-up to Christmas. We believe this needs more time. We only returned on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Today is only Wednesday. There is also a proposal that the Seanad will not sit one day next week. We have a lot of business to do. Having looked at the schedule and the conduct of our business for some months, it has become evident that …

Why is the House not sitting next Tuesday?

There is too much business to do.

We will chat about it afterwards.

These are not normal times.