Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues who, on our last day, on a Thursday, stayed the course to be here.

I appreciate that. It really represents teamwork, that is for sure.

I want to mention my constituency of Carlow–Kilkenny. For the past eight years, I have had the honour and privilege of representing that constituency. It has been a real honour. Sometimes, that word is overused and sounds a bit clichéd, but it genuinely has been. As a lot of people who know me well know, I never imagined that I would ever end up in this Chamber or the council chamber, and I certainly never imagined having the huge honour that lies ahead with regard to becoming a member of the European Parliament.

I also want to take a minute to thank everybody who has always been there, obviously, the people who support us and who go out and vote for us, everyone who gets involved with campaigns and our families and friends. In this role, as we all know, regardless of what party you are or if you are independent, you need a support structure in place, whether that is family or close friends or colleagues who surround us here. I want to take a minute to genuinely appreciate all their support and help throughout the last number of years, particularly over the last few weeks during that campaign and the last week in the count centre, which we all know felt like it was never going to end.

I also want to touch on some of the really important things in which I feel really privileged to have had a chance to play a role in this Chamber since being elected as a legislator. The one that always stands out for me is the referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. I will never forget being in the count centre in Kilkenny on 26 May 2018 when the results were announced. It is one of the greatest things I ever had the opportunity to be involved with in terms of rights for women with regard to women's health and reproductive rights. It was a really important step, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to be involved in that. At the time, I was the only TD in Carlow-Kilkenny who actually supported a "Yes" vote.

I also want to mention the area of disability, which has always been a huge passion of mine. In 2019, we passed a motion here unanimously, which I put forward, regarding setting up an autism committee. We saw that then come to fruition in this recent Dáil term. That has made huge inroads with regard to talking about us finally having an autism strategy, which is really important. There is much work still to be done in the area of disability and, of course, women's health. I would single those out as really important things for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed chairing the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It was a fantastic committee with really great members. Everyone worked really well together. I particularly think of all the survivors we dealt with in respect of the mother and baby institutions and how they appeared before us and told their stories, which was not an easy thing to do. It was during Covid as well, which made it extremely difficult for people. I want to mention them and, of course, the area of children and childcare. I had the honour of being involved in drafting our policy for Sinn Féin in that regard. Those are just some of the key moments for me, but there are loads when I look back on absolutely everything. There is still a huge amount of work in all of those sectors in terms of actually fulfilling and realising genuine and real rights for everybody, particularly in the disability sector. We are finally tackling crises we have seen in our housing sector and in healthcare and education. Of course, we have major issues in that regard.

On a European level, it is really important that we are very strong and that we have very strong MEPs who are willing to change some of the direction we have seen in the last number of years in Europe. Those issues I have just spoken about will be at the heart and focus of the work I am planning and hoping to do over the next number of years in Europe. We also know there are major issues within our agricultural sector and our fisheries communities, particularly for the Ireland South constituency. Next week, one of the most important things in our first week will be the opportunity to vote against Ms Ursula von der Leyen. I am glad to reiterate and put on record that I will be voting against her, as will my colleague, Senator Boylan.

I will leave it at that and again say a massive "Thank you". I also want to acknowledge everybody who works within the Oireachtas and all the staff, including the ushers, the catering staff - everybody. It is daunting and a little bit overwhelming when you first come in here. The staff in here are absolutely fantastic. Everyone involved in the committees and at all levels always go above and beyond for people and that should be acknowledged. I want to thank my colleagues and my family. I am very much looking forward to getting into the role next week and representing the full ten counties of Ireland South to the best of my ability.

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