Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not repeat what I stated earlier. I thank Senator Bradford for tabling the amendment. I must confess I did not study it in advance so I was effectively speaking on the wrong amendment. We are speaking about reorienting the €12,000 to make it workable and ensure it assists us in our democratic and parliamentary duty, which is reasonable. Others have reflected on the fact the referendum campaign and the poll on 4 October, the famous day in the life of the Seanad, has given democracy and the Seanad a mandate. As such we can deal with the cheap tabloid headlines with a renewed sense of confidence, because the real people spoke and retained the Seanad. They did not buy into the concept of saving €20 million. The bottom line is they voted to retain us and sent a clear message that the tabloid headlines which appear every so often are not reflective of the true views of people. I was quite surprised because I thought the House would go and the people would vote to get rid of us.