Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have been fully committed at all stages to this House. I believe in the Second Chamber and was delighted when the people made the right decision a number of years ago.

Some Members are retiring. I have been in the House with Senator Feargal Quinn for 23 years and it has been a great honour to serve with him. He has been a very strong and well respected voice in this House. When he spoke, people listened to what he had to say.Senator Walsh and I go back quite a long time. I knew him before I came into this House through the Local Authority Members Association and the local authority system. He has been a public representative since 1974, so it will be quite a change for him when he leaves public life. I wish him well in his retirement.

All of the Taoiseach's nominees were an inspiration to this House, and all are present bar one or two who may be standing for the Dáil. It was great to hear different voices to those from the parliamentary parties and political parties. I believe it was inspirational for the Taoiseach to nominate people such as Senators Mary Ann O'Brien, John Crown, Jillian van Turnhout, Marie-Louise O'Donnell, Fiach Mac Conghail and Katherine Zappone.

This was a different Seanad to all the others I have been a Member of. We had Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Sinn Féin, the Taoiseach's nominees, the university Senators, the other Independent Senators and, as it turned out, Renua. It was a very different Seanad to all of the others. I believe all of the legislation that went through this House was well scrutinised. That is what this House is about - scrutinising legislation - and that is what the people decided was best for the country.

I thank the Clerk, Deirdre Lane, the Clerk Assistant, Martin Groves, as well as Jody Blake, who was here for two and a half years of this Seanad. I also thank Jason, Keishia, Ronan, Niamh and Aisling, the secretary to the Cathaoirleach, who regulates the Chair. They have done a wonderful job over what was a difficult five-year period in that the Government did not always have the majority, amendments were brought in late and so forth. I compliment the staff. It was a great honour to work with them and to see how it works from the other side.

As Senator Wilson pointed out, there are three other Members who started out with us, Martin McAleese, Deirdre Clune and Jimmy Harte, two of whom retired and one who went to Europe. I wish the three of them well, Jimmy Harte in particular.

By and large, this was an excellent Seanad. When I look around, I see quite a number of Members who will not be back. It will be a changed Seanad, just as this Seanad was much changed from the previous one. I want to wish anyone who is standing for the Dáil the very best of luck and the same goes for all Members who are standing for the next Seanad election. While this may not be our last meeting, we may not get the opportunity to say this again. I wish them all the best of luck.