Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom aontú leis an méid atá ráite roimhe seo. Is lá iontach tábhachtach go deo é seo, go háirithe dóibh siúd a úsáideann na seirbhísí seo agus atá ag fanacht na céadta bliain leis an lá seo. This is a wonderful day. It is a proud day for everyone in the House. We have to remember that the most important people are the service users and their families. They are the heroes today, in fairness. Other people have played a part as well.

It has been a good example of democracy in action. All of us are aware that we have been lobbied, tweeted about and received messages from people who are very passionate about this topic. It is important that some of them are in the Gallery. It is great to see people in the Gallery sitting through a debate and listening to all that is being discussed. They have been nudging us a little further to do what we need to do with the amendments, etc.

The hashtag #creditwherecreditisdue was used last week and I wish to give the Minister of State credit. It is important that we do so. My colleagues in the Seanad will be aware that I am very critical of Ministers who I do not agree with. However, it is important that we give credit where credit is due today. If we did not have the political will from the Minister of State and her staff to bring in the amendments and take them on board, it would not have happened.

We will come back to other issues - the Minister of State has noted as much. That is for another day. Today is a day to be grateful that this legislation is going to be put through. It will make the lives of the service users, their families and all those in need of these services better in future. Who knows whether we could be in that category ourselves at some stage? It is important that this legislation is passed. Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis an Aire as an obair atá déanta aici.