Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank sincerely the people of Cork East for giving me a mandate again to serve them in this, the Thirty-third Dáil. I wish to express my gratitude and sense of pride in being here today. I make a very simple request of this Dáil, while we are in a collegiate frame of mind. Two specific issues came up on the doorsteps aside from housing and so on, namely the future of the early years sector and people with intellectual disabilities not having have the requisite access to services that they desire. I request that we in this House would agree to convene two all-party committees to deal with those two issues. If we could, by agreement, come to a consensus on what the future of the early years sector should look like, by way of an all-party, non-partisan approach, we would do a great service to the people who work and operate in those sectors.

A similar approach should be adopted on behalf of those families touched by intellectual disability. There is a great need for this society and for us not to view these issues as partisan but as issues on which we must deliver for the people. I will write to the party leaders to make that request but I am hopeful that we could arrive at a consensus on those specific issues.

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