Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I thank all the Senators who participated in this high quality, wide-ranging and thought-provoking debate. I think 20 Senators from all sides participated.

It is very important to state that not everybody was at this practice, that a small number were corrupted, whether they were developers, professional planners or politicians. Others resisted and stood up to what was going on, and as Senator D'Arcy said, one Member of this House was taken to court for it. We need to recognise that. While the point was made about the corruption of people in power and those who had things to gain were likely to be corrupted, which we need to protect against, not everybody was corrupted.

A number of speakers have made the point that we are the current crop of politicians and we must ensure we are in politics for public service, not personal gain. We must ensure this is what motivates Members on all sides in both Houses of the Oireachtas and all those in local government. We can retrieve the name of politics if we put our minds to it. At issue is the way we see our role. I do not accept we are all subject to corruption, if the opportunity arises, because I do not think that is the reason most people are in politics.