Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not speak yesterday even though I had prepared a speech. There was such a big crowd yesterday that I decided to hold off until today.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Irish team on its outstanding performance against Sweden on Monday in Paris and wish them continuing success in their next games. I wish to acknowledge the tens of thousands of Irish football fans who have travelled to France for being incredible ambassadors for Ireland. They have shown the world how to create and enjoy a positive, safe and fun atmosphere in which we can all join. They have done us proud and I urge them to keep it up.

I wish to offer my sincere condolences to the family of Darren Rodgers, a Northern Ireland football fan from Ballymena who tragically lost his life over the weekend in Nice. I also wish to express my deepest sympathies to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting whose lives were abruptly and brutally cut short. There are no words of comfort for all the families who have lost their loved ones in this barbaric act of terrorism. May they rest in peace.

Before I address my specific reason for speaking today, I wish to congratulate Senator Denis O'Donovan on being appointed Cathaoirleach, Senator Paul Coghlan on being appointed Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senator Jerry Buttimer on being appointed Leader of the House. I also wish all of my colleagues in the Twenty-fifth Seanad a successful term ahead.

I am delighted that my first speech in the Twenty-fifth Seanad refers to statements made by the Minister for Health which were published last Tuesday and Thursday in the Irish Independent. I welcome his statement that he plans to close the gap between the self-employed and PAYE workers. Like many others in the Oireachtas, such as Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, I have campaigned about social protection and sought social welfare for the self-employed. Over the past five years I have continuously campaigned in the Lower House, along with others, for the social welfare status of the self-employed to be addressed. We are the only country in the industrialised Europe that does not provide social protection for the self-employed. There are 330,000 self-employed people who have no protection in terms of social welfare. If they get sick or suffer a disability in the morning they are entitled to nothing. We had the Mangan report on social insurance in the Lower House during the five years that I was a Deputy, and I hope the report will be implemented. Social welfare is a huge issue for the self-employed. If we want people to create jobs and get people back to work then we need to put a safety net in place. I will table a motion in the House that I hope will be supported by all parties. I also hope all Senators will support the plans of the Minister for Health for the self-employed. I call on the bigger unions that represent self-employed people to come on board. The elephant in the room on the last occasion was whether to make the initiative mandatory or voluntary. I suggest that it must be mandatory, because nothing in the social protection sphere works voluntarily. I welcome the chance to speak today. I will table a motion on this matter that I hope will be supported by everybody in the House.