Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I admire my colleagues for the sincerity of their views that the House requires reform. However, I must defend my electorate - county councillors throughout the country. With all due respect to Senator Katherine Zappone, I suggest she run for election in the near future in a Dáil constituency or the Seanad election. She speaks in a derogatory fashion about our electorate because we are elected by politicians. All county councillors will only be elected and re-elected if they look after the people in their communities in which they are social workers. The Senator should inform herself more about the work of a county councillor. The hardest election to win is a Seanad election by county councillors. I have run and been successful three times. I will not do it again as I wish to hand over the baton to another person. The Senator should make herself aware. She refers to being elected by politicians, but if only she knew how hard it is to be elected by politicians - it is far more difficult than to be elected by the public.