Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is great to have this conversation. It is about everybody talking and raising awareness here. I am delighted there is something on social media that we can all share. It is about sharing that information. It makes the point about how powerful some of these committees can be. I am lucky enough to sit on the Joint Committee on Autism and to learn a lot more from witnesses and so on, through conversation and even in such a short period. I do not think that committee has been operating for very long. Next month, we will be the first parliament in the world to be autism-friendly. This committee is also very different. It is a mix of all parties but it is very level; there is no real politics played here because we are here to try to promote things and to work with people.

Those sitting here across from me today is testament to how seriously they are taking it too. Our job is normally to question them and give them a hard time but not all the time. I wanted to put that on record and acknowledge it. If any of us from this side of the House can assist in any way, that is what we are here for. It is to try to move things forward and help people so that people do not have to go through the same thing as we had described to us. Whether it is cancer or suicide, sepsis or other things, it can be a niche thing, although you would not use that word. Often the people who try to get these campaigns going do so because they were personally affected by it. Sometimes it turns people into activists on specific subjects. It is not about normalising it but when you can get a team together where everyone is working together and on the same hymn sheet, then the advertising and the explanation gets out much easier.

I am very happy that we are talking about it. As I said, if we can help in any way by promoting this and making the witness's jobs a bit easier for a change, we are on board.