Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach and Senator Horkan. There has always been a good culture in our committees. We do need to be informed and inform each other by listening. I also thank the officials, the clerk and everyone else. These are the bowels of the building but it is where you learn. Knowledge is power in politics. If you treat the committees seriously, get engaged and involved, and listen as well as question, you learn a lot. That learning then benefits your constituents because you can make informed decisions as parliamentarians or as Ministers. Even the character of these rooms add to it and lend to it. Sometimes they can be star chambers and we need that too. It is the learning in these chambers in the 20 years I have been here, or 16 years on and off, that is one of the things I have appreciated most.