Alex White (Labour)

On behalf of the Labour Party I add my voice to the tributes paid to our colleague in Seanad Éireann, the late Senator Kett. Like Senator Quinn, although I tend to spend more time on the southside these days I too am a northsider and grew up in the area where Senator Kett lived. I welcome the members of his family and his friends and colleagues to the House for these tributes. The tribute paid by the former Taoiseach was perhaps one of the most impressive tributes to the administrative skill and political, strategic expertise of Tony Kett. He said at the funeral that he believed he would never have been elected to the Dáil had it not been for Tony Kett. This is praise indeed. As has been pointed out by other speakers, Tony Kett had a great commitment to education and to issues relating to disabilities - or abilities as Senator Quinn has very eloquently pointed out. Tony Kett would have preferred to have it described as such. He was a wonderful colleague in the Seanad. I did not know him particularly well because of my relatively short time in the House. We may all be inclined to be like this but some people have "Hello" days, so to speak, while other people have days when they are not sure whether to say hello. In Tony Kett's case it was always a "Hello" day. He always had a greeting for those he met, both here or in the anteroom of the Chamber. He was always extremely friendly. He was a decent man who was held in great affection by people in the House who admired the work he did, much of it carried out quietly and also his work in the 15 years he spent on Dublin City Council where he did great work on behalf of the people of his area and the city generally.

I add my voice to the tributes and to express my heartfelt condolences to Tony's family on their loss of Tony at such a relatively young age. It is such a sad loss for them as the greatest wrench is experienced by the members of his family. It is nice to see his family members present and to hear a child's voice, something we do not hear very often in this Chamber and which is a very nice reminder of our common humanity.