I thank the Minister of State and Senator O'Reilly. I want to welcome Una, Kathleen and Anthony Doolan and Richard and Theresa Shepherd, who are from Sligo, I think. No, they are from Roscommon and Sligo; I am offending them already. They are guests of Deputy Eamon Scanlon but he has found them a good guide in the form of Deputy Cleere who is looking after them. They are very welcome and I hope they are enjoying the tour. I imagine Deputy Scanlon is treating them to the bar and restaurant. If he is not, they will h…

That is not going to help his chances.

I would also like to be associated with the comments directed towards the Acting Leader. I am not sure he wants us to do that. I withdraw them so. I want to acknowledge the tremendous performance by Cape Verde yesterday. At the heart of that performance was Pico Lopes, who is a Shamrock Rovers player. As a Shamrock Rovers fan, I see these man of the match performances week in, week out, so it is not any huge surprise to me. It was fantastic, and I congratulate him and the Cape Verde team. Cape Verde is the third sm…

I agree with Senator Fitzpatrick's comments in relation to the RTÉ "Prime Time" report entitled Cocaine Kids. For anybody living in the inner city, it was nothing new and revealed nothing new to them. As she said, it is really important that we have a health-led approach to drug use. I agree with and acknowledge that. Last week, I went to visit My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue. It was an incredible visit. There are horses, pigs, goats and donkeys - everything is there. It was incredible for two reasons. It was incredi…

Even in Kildare we would not see that number of horses in one small area. It was absolutely shocking to see so many horses, and they were all rescue horses. We hear a lot about how we are a horse-loving nation but, sadly, a visit to My Lovely Horse Animal Rescue would suggest that this is not true. When we see the horseracing industry getting €80 million per year and then we see the huge number of horses in rescues, we know something is not working. The cruelty of horses that is tolerated in this country is shamefu…

I acknowledge the Irish ladies football team last night. Even though they ultimately were not successful in directly qualifying for the World Cup, I think they are on the up. They are fantastic. Carla Ward is doing an amazing job. I second Senator Collins's amendment. I was in touch over the past week with a lady called Serca Darcy, who has breast cancer. She is 35 years of age. She has worked in hairdressing since she was 15. She opened her own salon and has employed a couple of people for the past 12 years. She h…

I have a point of order.

I cannot raise any point of order?

So I cannot ask whether we should get rid of the prayer at the start of each day.

Will the prayer be got rid of? What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

I did not want to interrupt him.

And Ringsend.

She had to close down her business.

Sinn Féin fully supports this Bill. I thank Senator Patricia Stephenson for bringing it forward. It is a Bill that is important, timely and something that is long overdue. As Senator Stephenson said, the OPLA has indicated that it is legally sound, so if there were issues, the Government could work through them on Committee Stage. Consequently, it is disappointing that it is not being accepted. Senators Higgins and Black and the other members of the Civil Engagement Group should also be commended on their important…

The Minister of State will have 15 minutes to respond.

A request has been made.

A vote has been called in the Dáil Chamber so we will finish up and suspend in a minute. I welcome guests from Carlow of the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, who is waiting in the wings to step in for the next Commencement matter.

As a vote has been called in the Dáil and we need to suspend so the Minister can attend.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, to the Seanad, as well as his delegation of guests. They are guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Robert Troy. They are very welcome. I am sure the Minister of State is looking after them very well.