During the Order of Business in the Seanad, I said: If we in this House are to find our way, we must earn our keep. We have done so to a certain extent today. I thank the Leader for arranging for the House to sit today because it has not sat for a number of weeks...

We are meeting in order to pass the Construction Contracts Bill which I hope we will pass today. I appreciate the Leader’s response to my request that we do so. I do not understand, however, why we will not be meeting in the next few weeks. The Constitution provides that a vote will not take place for almost two months, yet it is not planned to meet in the intervening period. Senator O’Toole has mentioned to me that we have not yet seen the programme for Government, which is exactly what we should be debating. That is how we will earn our keep.

We do not deserve to stay alive if we do not do so. When I was playing rugby for Newbridge College many years ago, the trainer used to refer to the attacking team and the defending team. When I asked him what he meant by “the attacking team” and whether this was determined by the position of the ball on the field, he replied that it was not, that the attacking team was the team in possession of the ball, even if it was on their back line.

The Seanad is a little like the attacking team. We are on the back line and if we are to survive, thrive and succeed, it is in our own hands. We can make sure we will meet to consider our opportunities. We must show a degree of optimism and confidence. Let us not talk ourselves down, as too many are doing in the country, and say things are so bad we cannot get out of the position in which we find ourselves. We can do a lot. We must believe in ourselves and that those in this House can prove their worth.

I welcome Senator Darragh O'Brien. I hope he will be working very hard, at least three or four days a week, for the next two months.