Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senators Fitzgerald, O'Toole, McCarthy, Leyden, Keaveney, Coghlan, Regan, Ó Murchú, Buttimer, Ormonde and Hannigan expressed their opinion on the taking of the Order of Business at the commencement of Friday sittings. As stated last week, having an Order of Business on a Friday is not the norm, it is actually a complete exception. We were obliged to arrange three Friday sittings in order to accommodate the taking of statements on the economy, the Health Bill and the Finance Bill. We will be obliged to wait until the Dáil has disposed of the Finance Bill in its entirety before we can deal with it on Friday, 19 December. The position is similar on the taking of the Health Bill on Friday next. Friday sittings are not the norm. I am concerned about colleagues who live in counties Donegal, Kerry and Cork and other places some distance from the House——