Katherine Zappone (Independent)

Never would I have dreamed as a young girl growing up on the western seaboard of the United States of America that I would be given the special right - that is the definition of privilege - to add my voice to those of my distinguished colleagues on all sides of the House. I am grateful to both the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach for this trust. However, this gift of privilege is also one of power and in my time in the House I commit to a performative notion of power, that is, power understood not so much as something we possess but as practices that can be performed together to change the structures, dominant cultural norms or the laws - especially the laws - where they render people excluded, marginalised, unfree or invisible.

There is an ethical urgency to the work we are doing together and it is imperative that we attend to the various interpretative lenses we bring into the way we order and conduct our business. I wish to focus on two of these lenses which I hope to bring to my work, shaped largely by my reflective experiences of those I have worked alongside in the past 28 years in Ireland. First, I wish to bring the lens of appreciation for the diverse ways of being human. Diversity is integral to the essence of humanity. For example, the moral worth of a younger person is equal to that of an older person. An acceptance of this perspective leaves one to conclude that lawmakers ought to scrutinise laws to ensure there is an appropriate and equivalent amount of protection, resources and rights for each human being at whatever point he or she is at on the continuum of age. If, as I believe unflinchingly, a society of equals in Ireland will only be established by mutually respecting diversity and difference, then I bring a sense of urgency to my position in this House to ensure that laws are passed that accept and normalise diversity.

Second, I intend to bring a social justice lens to our economic and financial challenges. This will encompass a rigorous commitment to efficiency and effectiveness but in a way that is fair and that invests in social, as well as in economic entrepreneurship, in the social and community sectors, as well as in small and medium enterprises, research and development and multinational corporations. Both types of entrepreneurship are required to get Ireland working again. The social sector has lessons for the economic one and the business and change management models hold great potential to solve some of our most trenchant social problems. The Cathaoirleach and Leader should note these are some of the reasons I intend to propose the motion tabled by the Independent Group this evening. I look forward to outlining some of the implications these reflections hold for how Seanad Éireann will conduct its business at that time.