Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I concur with all the Cathaoirleach said in relation to Dr. Martin Mansergh, who was a man of immense talent. I extend my condolences to his family, loved ones and his colleagues in Fianna Fáil.

The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on school transport, to be taken at 4.45 p.m. and to conclude at 6.15 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to opening remarks from the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed seven minutes, all other Senators not to exceed four minutes, time may be shared and the Minister to be given not less than ten minutes to reply to the debate; and No. 2, statements on auto-enrolment, to be taken at 7 p.m. and to conclude at 8.10 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to opening remarks from the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, all other Senators not to exceed two minutes, time may be shared and the Minister to be given not less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I extend our sympathies to our colleague Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee on the passing of her mother, Mary, at the very untimely age of 67. Our deepest sympathy to Lorraine, to her dad, Mossie, and to all her family.

There will be further opportunities to speak about the wonderful and great man that Martin Mansergh was, and my colleague Senator Goldsboro, will speak further about him. From all of the conversations I had with Martin over the years him and from what I heard, I know he was of the view that the greatest honour he ever had was when the people of South Tipperary elected him. He had an incredible career and had a great future ahead of him in the context of the work he was doing. He really believed in the power of politics and of public representation. That is his greatest legacy in many ways. I wish simply to say that we are bereft. He was the best of us in Fianna Fáil and the best of us in the country also. My very deepest sympathy to Liz and all the family.

I welcome the statement that came from Washington overnight on the agreement between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on the 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza. The key elements include what all of us in this House have called for many times, namely an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and full access to allow for the provision of humanitarian. Strong support has been shown for the plan all over the world already. Let us hope and pray that this is the start of the end of this shocking war.

I returned from Ukraine in the early hours of this morning. I had the opportunity to participate in an EU delegation to show solidarity, to bear witness and to show support for Ukraine in terms of it becoming a member of the EU.With the good news coming from Moldova that the pro-European party was elected, I do believe we are getting on the right track. Let me give testament to the strength and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. These are evident if you go to see places like Bucha, where 500 people were buried in a mass grave only three years ago. We think this is something from the First World War or the Second World War. The night we stayed in Kyiv saw more shelling than any other over recent years. Spending a night in a bomb shelter made me recognise that this is the lived reality of people. At every level we need to support the Ukrainian people.

Downstairs in the coffee dock, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland is hosting a coffee and tea briefing. I would really appreciate it if Members of all parties and none took the opportunity to drop down and talk about what we need to do in the budget on 7 October to support the society.

PJ Murphy (Fine Gael)
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I rise today to discuss a topic of particular interest to me as a commercial beekeeper, and that is the response to the positive identification of an Asian hornet nest in Cork during recent months. After the positive identification of an individual Asian hornet, it took two weeks to find the location of the nest using the traditional triangulation method. Now, while that method did work, the process could have, and should have, been gone through in a matter of an hour had the most up-to-date Robor Nature radio signal technology been at hand and employed. After the nest was located, its destruction was delayed by a further staggering three weeks due to the lack of appropriate expertise and PPE. In the late summer and early autumn months, each colony can send out up to 300 gynes or queens. After winter and in the following spring, each of these can begin its own new colony. How many queens left the colony in Cork to begin new hornet colonies next year? What are we going to be dealing with next spring and in the early summer because of our slow response to the first colony this summer?

The next thing I want to do is not look back but forward to next year in respect of derogation licences. In Ireland, the release of any specimen of a non-native or invasive species can be carried out only with a delegation received through the NPWS. Hornets’ nests are located by catching an individual hornet, putting a radio signaller on its back and letting it fly to its mother colony so it can be tracked; however, it cannot be released with that radio device on its back without a derogation license from the NPWS. It currently takes two weeks to get that licence. I call for measures to be put in place now, before next spring arrives, so derogation licences for the release of individual Asian hornets for the purpose of tracking their parent colonies may be acquired retrospectively. Thus, whoever is carrying out the process will be able to get on with their work and obtain the licence afterwards. It is very important that no time be lost in this process.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I join the Cathaoirleach, Leader, Members of this House and colleagues in expressing my deepest sympathies to Dr. Mansergh’s wife, Elizabeth, his children, and his former political colleagues and friends. He had many of the latter. While he was of course a loyal supporter of Fianna Fáil and an activist, he worked and collaborated with political people right across these Houses. One of his defining features was his collaboration, and how he could be trusted and entrusted with various responsibilities, particularly in relation to Northern Ireland and the peace process on the island of Ireland.Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D. Higgins, highlighted Dr. Mansergh's enormous assistance with the Good Friday Agreement. He also highlighted his very significant contribution to the Border and wider peace process, and he did so very eloquently. I salute and acknowledge that too. The then Taoiseach who signed the Good Friday Agreement, Bertie Ahern, the former leader of Fianna Fáil, greatly encapsulated Dr. Mansergh's many qualities calling him "a straight talker who everyone trusted". Everyone trusted him. When people trust and respect you, it is easy for them do business with you and they have confidence doing so. That is the hallmark of his career and as a person. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, spoke of Dr. Mansergh's exceptional devotion to the cause of peace guided by the profound knowledge of this island's diverse history and the context of that diversity.

Senators and TDs of course, will be aware that he was a Member of both of these Houses. He was a member of the agricultural panel and I acknowledge his generous advice and guidance. I knew him well. He had a house in south Dublin, which I visited many times. However, his deep roots were in Tipperary. He was born in England but he was a nationalist and a republican in the truest sense of the word. He embraced all of that.

If one looks back on it, in many ways he was an unusual comrade or friend of Charles J. Haughey. He was, however, not that unusual. He had a love of agriculture. He had a love of antiquities. He had a love of forestry. He greatly spoke about Charles Stewart Parnell and Avondale and Horace Plunkett, the great advocates of forestry and agriculture in the early stages of the foundation of this State. Those subjects were loves of his. He had a huge interest in the bloodstock industry, as have most people in Tipperary and a great love and affinity for the land.

He was a proud and active member of the Church of Ireland and took a great interest in all of its affairs. That is something that the Church of Ireland is very proud of. He also had a great interest in its history too.

Martin loved Ireland. He had an affinity and love for this place, this island. He truly believed in the potential for a united island based on trust and respect, as well as the enormous potential for the island of Ireland in agriculture, food, industry and commerce. He hoped that the success of the Good Friday Agreement would continue to grow.

I will finish on this point. The Good Friday Agreement stands as valid today as it did over 25, 26 or 27 years ago. We must not be complacent, as Martin would not want us to be. We have to continue to work to build greater understanding, diversity, respect and co-operation with each other to ensure a lasting peace for all the people who live on this Ireland.

I am sorry for his loss and thank him for his service to both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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I start by being associated with the condolences to the family, friends and former colleagues of Dr. Martin Mansergh. I acknowledge his significant contribution to the peace process which led to the Good Friday Agreement. I also want to be associated with the condolences to Senator Clifford-Lee and her family on the untimely death of her mother.

I raise the issue of the global summit flotilla on which my party colleague, Senator Chris Andrews, is aboard. They are now within two day's sailing from Gaza. He and the participants are still as determined as ever to open a humanitarian corridor to bring aid to those besieged in Gaza who are suffering and enduring a genocide and a man-made famine.

It is not the first flotilla Chris has been on. In fact, he has been on three before. In 2011, he was kidnapped and kept in an Israeli jail for a week. However, he feels that the stakes on this one are higher, not just for the participants but for the people in Gaza as well. He is concerned. Israel has been quite threatening in its language. It launched drones at some of the ships last week and, thankfully, no one was injured. It has tried to paint the flotilla as anything other than peaceful and this may be used to justify future violent action by Israel against the flotilla as it gets nearer to Gaza.Ordinary people like Chris and others from across the globe should not have to do this. Governments should really have come together to open that humanitarian corridor some time ago. We have all been watching the scenes on our televisions for the last two years. Israel is guilty of war crimes and has been called out for it. It is guilty of genocide. The UN has said so, as have many other countries. We have words of support for Gaza and words of condemnation for Israel but that really is not enough.

I acknowledge that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Harris, has been in touch with Senator Andrews, as have some people from his Department. I urge the Minister and the embassy in Tel Aviv to be on high alert over the next few days to support the Irish citizens on board the flotilla and their families, just in case something happens. Hopefully, nothing will happen but I urge them to be prepared just in case it does.

On the peace deal being considered, I am hopeful that this will lead to something. I hope it is something that all sides can agree on. However, I am conscious that it was drafted by the American President and has been seen by the Israeli Prime Minister but has not been seen by any representatives of the Palestinian people. I know they are considering it and I hope they can agree to it but I am really concerned that it may be something to which they cannot agree because it has almost been issued as an ultimatum - if the Palestinians do not agree to this, America will support Israel in what it is doing, full blast. I am really concerned but hopeful that it can be resolved. I also hope that the Minister and the embassy will keep a close eye on matters.