Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is refreshing to see the interest among the media today. I welcome Miriam Lord from The Irish Times, Lise Hand from the IrishIndependent and Shaun Connolly from the Irish Examiner. I am disappointed RTE and TV3 are not represented also because I believe the coverage of last week's events influenced the outcome of the vote on Friday, given the 27-23 vote last Wednesday on Senator Feargal Quinn's Bill on upward-only rent reviews, which was very useful. At this stage, I also pay tribute to the retired journalist Jimmy Walsh who covered this House for a very long time.

An interesting point is that on 1 July 1937 the plebiscite was held on the Constitution. Some 685,105 voted for, while 526,945 voted against. The number who voted on Friday to get rid of the Seanad was 591,937, while 634,437 voted against. Therefore, the numbers are quite close in the two events. However, we have to move on. I have presented to the Leader of the House, Senator Maurice Cummins, an open letter from the former Leader Mrs. Mary O'Rourke, which is very worthwhile and should be considered in the light of his discussions on reform. I believe the letter will be published in the Irish Independent tomorrow.

The Leader played a very decisive role by way of his calm approach to the future of the House. The Leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Micheál Martin, also played a very important role, as did Senators David Norris, Sean D. Barrett, Katherine Zappone, John Crown, Feargal Quinn, Rónán Mullen and others, not excluding Members of both Houses, including Labour Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Members who played a very decisive role. As someone who attended this House as a Minister, I can say that when all is said and done, I respected it so much. I found it to be the most incisive and responsive House of Parliament. I got and took the best advice here. I amended Bills, as the record of the House will show. We should never diminish its role, rather we should respect it. I wish all of my colleagues continued success and the respect that this House was shown by the people last Friday.