Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his office for the opportunity to speak on the occasion of our resignations from Dáil Éireann. Thankfully, that decision is with the mutual agreement of the electorate of my Dáil constituency of Laois-Offaly and the wider European constituency of Midlands–North-West.

I want to take this opportunity to thank publicly all those who voted for me in the European election. Today brings an end to my 13-year tenure as a TD. It is now 55 years since my late father was first elected in 1969 to the constituency of Laois-Offaly. He was succeeded after his untimely death by my brother Brian in 1984. My father was a big act for Brian to follow. He, indeed, was a big act for me to follow. We all had our own individual styles and made our marks in different ways, but we shared the sense of honour and privilege it is for us all to represent our respective constituencies, in our case, that of Laois-Offaly. Our efforts on behalf of constituents were thankfully appreciated and we were always humbled to be re-elected on many occasions.

For my part, the quality and calibre of the work and service that was provided by me and my office as a TD was only possible because of the support, help and assistance I got from my wife, Mary, and my extended family. It was because of the constituency staff who were available to me and who worked on my behalf and that of the electorate in Tullamore, namely, Elaine and Danielle. It was also because of the closeness of the working relationship I had with my Fianna Fáil colleagues, predominantly in Offaly and also in Laois, past and present, and, of course, the wider Fianna Fáil organisation, my own cumann of Clara and the wider county of Offaly. I thank them all sincerely for the support, assistance and trust they gave and had in me and my candidacy on many occasions.

As I said earlier, I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office and my colleagues on all sides of the House and, as the previous speaker alluded to, the administrative staff, those who work in the respective committees and the ushers, porters and hospitality staff who all ensure that these buildings and this place of work are conducive to work being done well because of the atmosphere of camaraderie that exists among all mentioned.

I see my new role as an extension of this one, where I will pursue positive responses to the challenges that exist in, for example, food production and farming and agriculture. I will continue to pursue a pan-European project to deliver on the potential that exists on the west coast where offshore wind can respond not only to our energy needs but even those of Europe. I will seek to address some of the failings in the just transition programme that we have seen to date with regard to the processes and procedures. It was a process and provision and an allocation I championed at the time, but it has to better recognise, reward and support the midlands region especially, which has borne much of the initial and heavy lifting when it came and comes to the acceleration of decarbonisation.

I intend, too, to demand that the EU demands and delivers on the OECD commitments regarding the global corporate tax rate in respect especially of India, China and the US, thus protecting and enhancing the contribution made within this economy by foreign direct investment into this country, contributing handsomely, as we know, to present-day record job numbers and receipts, which, of course, predicates everything else this House and Government does with regard to the provision and the capacity to deliver the quality and quantity of public services.

I wish the Dáil well. I would advise anyone who feels the call to politics to pursue it. The privilege and honour that I and many of us feel as TDs is a feeling and an aspiration that is not as prevalent as we would like because many people fear the repercussions and abuse associated with public life today. We need to make it a safer and better regulated profession in order for future generations to make the contribution I know they can and would make. It is my opinion that the next patriots of our time will be those who can return politics to being seen as a safe profession, whether online or in respect of physical safety. I look forward to helping from Europe, insofar as I can, in that regard and to working with those representatives from within the vast constituency I will represent. As I said earlier, if I can do nothing else, I would like to encourage others to participate and engage in politics and to ensure younger generations will have the chances we have had to assure their future and that of those who come after them.

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