Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Every time you put forward a motion or a Bill, you worry that people will not get it and will not understand how vital it is to bring forward an issue and to bring solutions to the surface. I thought at the start that I might be standing here alone, a Billy No-Mates, but everybody, from all political groupings, has been passionate about this issue. It does require a little thought. I mentioned to several people that I was bringing forward a motion on loneliness and they had a look in their eyes to ask how it is a political issue. Social connection is the most important thing we have as human beings. If we get it wrong, it has detrimental impacts on our society, and if we get it right, it can be what makes a successful country work. We have not been getting it right and that is the reality, according to the statistics. Despite the various attempts that have been made and the funding that has been put in place, we have not quite got there.

I am a mother of teenagers. If we were to ask most parents what their deepest concern is, it is not about their children's grades but is about how they will be with other people in the world. That is what occupies parents' minds.

Many people talk about young people, particularly young girls, and say they are too obsessed with what other people think of them, with the importance of likes on social media and so on. In actual fact, being respected, valued and loved is important to one's sense of self. If we are not giving it to people in other ways, of course they are going to look for a different avenue on social media to get that validation. We have to do a better job at an earlier age.

I am from a rural family but now live in urban Ireland. I am in the European Parliament constituency of Midlands-North-West. Regardless of whether you live in a big city, a small town, suburbia or rural Ireland, you come across people who feel isolated, as many of the Senators have pointed out. What sparked off this issue for me was a question to The Irish Times. A correspondent told the newspaper about being "alone pretty much all the time" and not expecting the situation to get any better as he or she gets older. The correspondent also spoke of the reactions that some people had. They told the correspondent just to get out and join a club. If you join a club, however, and do not receive respect or validation, it is much worse and puts in place something that can spiral out of control.

We have to put investment into clubs, green spaces and park benches. We must also put investment into people themselves so that they have confidence and so that we understand what it is to connect with people socially and what it is to give other people respect such that in a classroom of 30 people, there is not somebody who feels deeply alone and lonely every day. Those people exist all around us.

I thank all of the Senators for their contributions. Many Senators, including Senator Boyhan, mentioned the importance of mandating local authorities, which we were keen to put into our motion. We are coming up to local elections and now is the time for people, political parties and groupings to say what they will do if they are elected to councils.

Senators Malcolm Byrne and Hoey mentioned canvassing. We meet people very day. In fact, we have a very privileged position because we are very rarely on our own. We get to connect with people. A journalist came with me on the campaign trail in 2019 to see how I canvassed. I warned him in advance that I tend to talk a lot at the doors and do not get to many of them. The article stated that I was not joking in that respect. People want to talk, they really do, and we all know that.

It was important for Senator Black to point out that some people listening to this debate are feeling a sense of isolation and loneliness and it is important for us to give practical steps about what they can do. Many of my connections have come through activism, including through the Repeal movement and environmentalism.It is about finding individuals who think similarly about an issue to oneself and who are really passionate about improving it for other people. Having been a new parent at one point in my life, I am of the view that it is the loneliest one will ever feel in life when one is taking that new step. I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for pointing that out. The point about technology was valuable in the context of how isolating digitisation is if someone feels they are not where everybody else is, namely on social media. One is not seeing a cashier in a bank or seeing post office clerks and so on, which was mentioned by Senators Murphy and Black.

I thank Senator Flynn because being poor - poverty, as the Minister of State pointed out - is an underlying factor for an awful lot of people. When everything else is going okay for someone he or she can find it within themselves to join a club, to go to meet other people and speak with confidence but if one's number one overriding feeling is that he or she has to put food on the table then that has to come first for people.

I thank the Minister of State. It is great to see him in this role because it is perfectly suited to him. I could see the passion in how he spoke towards the end. I am delighted he mentioned that he will work collaboratively with those of us who brought forward the motion, but it is quite clear that many Senators feel committed to the issue now and welcomed the opportunity to speak about it. I thank everybody. I also thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, for not opposing the motion. As Senator Flynn quite rightly pointed out, it is time for action. We do get weary of more and more action plans, but I have the sense we are going beyond that point now.