Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Order of Business is agreed every day. If the Senator has an issue, he can object to it. That is a matter for the Leader.

In respect of the point raised by Senator Colm Burke, I have the responsibility for choosing Commencement Matters. It is probably not a matter for the Leader but the multiplicity of Commencement Matters is extraordinary. An average of 12 or 14 are received and I am only allowed to pick four. At one stage, I thought that we could manage five but given the way they roll on, it would conflict with the Order of Business, which cannot be permitted. I was quite happy for us to take five instead of four. It used to be three. The difficulty I have is that I must try to be fair to all groups. Some people come in every week and if somebody comes in every two months or has an important issue, I must give them preference as well. I try to be fair but it does not always pan out. I will never get the ideal situation but I am cognisant that it was difficult today. The way it panned out was that two Fine Gael Senators were chosen because there was nobody from Fianna Fáil so I tried to balance it. I try to be fair. There is no utopian solution. I will take responsibility for that but I will talk to Senator Colm Burke privately about it.