When is it proposed to sit again?
Business of Seanad.
It is proposed that we adjourn sine die. I want to assure the House that we will meet very shortly. We have to get a schedule of work organised and we have been given a guarantee that that schedule of work will include, in the very near future, Bills that will be initiated in the House. Although we are adjourning sine die I can assure the House there will be a sitting within the next fortnight.
Before I conclude, a Chathaoirligh, I ask you please to pass on to the staff of the House our thanks for the work they did today. It has been a long day for them and we should not let the opportunity pass without thanking them. Equally, I would like you to pass on to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil our appreciation that we were able to use this Chamber today. It was an auspicious occasion. The debates on the various items today were useful and were up to the highest of standards. They were of benefit to the public debate that will take place in the future.
I would like to thank the press for their forbearance. They have a job to do. I suppose 12 midnight is as late for them as for the rest of us.
May I concur with the thanks expressed by the Leader of the House to the staff who have put in a very long day, to the press who have borne with us very patiently all day, and to the Ceann Comhairle who, at short notice made this House available and saved us from the problems which our temporary accommodation is posing for us. I simply concur with the thanks expressed by the Leader of the House.
Before I get agreement on that, I would like, as the new Cathaoirleach, to say how delighted I am to have chaired the first sitting. It is extraordinary what a crack in a ceiling of another Chamber will do. Other people have to fight conventions and battles to arrive here. We all arrived by the crack in a ceiling in another place.
I join with Senator Lanigan and Senator Manning in expressing my warm and sincere thanks to all the staff, to the Ceann Comhairle and to you. It was a rough day, even in the early stages. I hope the new Members — the old Members know what goes on — are glad they are here.