Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with what Senator Comiskey has said. Good news is always welcome. In my anger with the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, yesterday over the dismantling of the rural transport schemes, I failed to pay tribute to the Ministers, Deputies Varadkar and Coveney, on their initiative in making the use of personal locator beacons mandatory. I welcome the initiative, which is something very close to my heart. In this type of weather people are jumping to get into the sea, rivers and lakes. I join Irish Water Safety in urging people to be careful and cautious. They need to remember that the sea is very dangerous and has claimed many people's lives over the years. In this beautiful weather we need to remind young people in particular not to take risks.

The following issue is a bugbear of mine. On this wonderful occasion in Union Hall on Monday, while the Ministers, Deputies Varadkar and Coveney, are very welcome, local councillors and Oireachtas Members should have been notified. This is the second occasion. I have made a personal complaint to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, that I was given no notice of the event in Union Hall. It is a disgrace and very mean. It is not something I would raise here lightly and it is wrong. Approximately 18 months ago a wonderful €40 million project to develop the harbour and pier in Castletownbere was opened and I only found out the following day that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, had been to the town for that opening. It does not take much to send an e-mail or make a phone call. I was the only Oireachtas Member not present and I regret it because of my interest in and love of fishing and the water. I ask the Leader to raise this with the Ministers.

Last year, for example, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, was in Goleen and we had a wonderful day leaving politics out of these things. It is very wrong for Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin local authority members not to be informed of what is going on in the constituency on these most important issues. I praise the Ministers for this wonderful development, which I wish well. However, I was disappointed that I got no notice of the event taking place.

I second Senator Darragh O'Brien's amendment to the Order of Business.