Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. As he said, this is a civil rights Bill. It ensure that the citizens of this State who suffer from the most extreme marginalisation, as described by our Committee on Justice and Equality, have rights enshrined in law. Members of the deaf community on this island are unable to access the most basic of services. Citizens are excluded from participating in civil and economic society and activity because they are deaf. When we pass this Bill, we will have enshrined in law the meaning of the 1916 Proclamation when it refers to "cherishing all of the children of the nation equally" and states that the Republic would guarantee religious and civil liberties, equal rights and equal opportunities and declare the resolve to pursue the happiness of all citizens.

I thank the members of the Irish Deaf Society, including Eddie Redmond, Lianne Quigley and John Bosco Conama, and all those members of the deaf community who had input into this Bill. I thank the members of the Civil Engagement group and the other Independents. I will name them because they are here. Senator Boyhan went to the meeting referred to earlier, which, by the way, was six hours long. I thank Senators Gerard Craughwell, Joan Freeman, Michael McDowell, Rónán Mullen, Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Brian Ó Domhnaill and Billy Lawless. I thank the Sinn Féin grouping led by Senator Rose Conway-Walsh, who also sent a representation to that six-hour meeting, which was the longest meeting but not the only meeting. As I said, I thank the Civil Engagement group: Senators Frances Black, John Dolan, Alice-Mary Higgins, Grace O'Sullivan, Lynn Ruane and Colette Kelleher. I thank Senator David Norris, who spoke earlier, Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, my own group, including Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, who has supported the Bill, and all those who have participated in it.

I compliment in particular Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin who, as chair of the Committee on Justice and Equality, ensured that pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill was done in a day, brought in the members of the committee and did a report that highlighted the extreme marginalisation faced by the deaf community that allowed the Bill to come to the Seanad so quickly. I thank Deputy Jack Chambers, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, our justice spokesperson, who was on that committee and ensured that the process happened quickly, and Deputy Micheál Martin, who met the members of the Cork Deaf Club, who highlighted the extreme marginalisation they face.I thank the many public servants who were involved in this legislation. There are too many Departments and public servants to name, but I will name two. The Minister of State has already spoken about Deaglán Ó Briain. He is an extraordinary public servant. He is not just a civil servant; he is a public servant because he puts in long hours. He put in every one of those six hours at that meeting in Hawkins House. It was a long day which was not over until after 9 p.m. He went through the Bill section by section and gave of his vast experience and expertise. He improved the Bill and gave great advice. Gerry Maguire, a most extraordinary individual, is in the Gallery. Mr. Maguire was supposed to be on the Gerry Ryan show for ten minutes and ended up being on it for an hour telling his story. He has written a book called Walk Away & Forget Him. It is an extraordinary story. It is the story of this Bill. It is about people who suffered from extreme marginalisation and people who were left abandoned by the system. We always need champions. Gerry is a champion of this Bill and his mother was his champion. I thank Gerry for his great work on this Bill. His book describes the challenges he faces and the triumph over adversity, the battle for integration and the fight for independence, as well as fighting all the other demons that we all face. He will be signing copies afterwards.

I thank the Minister of State for his support for the Bill. It shows in a very bizarre way that new politics works. It works slowly, tortuously so. We had that big battle here on that day because that is the way old politics would have worked. The Bill would have died on that day but new politics requires a lot more engagement.

The Minister of State spoke about my staff. I too have someone like Gerry Maguire who works tireless hours. We do not have a big staff, myself and my parliamentary assistant, Grace Coyle, because we are the staff. She is my boss and the chief of operations. She was in charge of all the legislation, countless amendments and drafting and keeping people informed. She has been working on this Bill since 2013, which is a long time. We have been involved in some big issues such as flags for schools, which we organised with the Department last year. She organised the event in Croke Park where 6,000 children showed up from 723 schools and were presented with a flag that flew from the building where the first tricolour was flown. I was too busy getting re-elected so she was doing everything else, including getting me re-elected. We did the report together on uniting Ireland, which was the first report of its kind in the history of the State. That started on 1 January at 6.30. She was also involved in getting a replica of the 1916 Proclamation put inside the Washington Monument which, I suppose, enshrines what we are trying to do here today.

It takes a team of formidable people to make history and to get this legislation passed. If and when it goes through the Dáil and is signed by the President, Senator Alice-Mary Higgins's father, hopefully before the end of the year, it will only be the 27th Private Member's Bill in the history of the State to achieve this. That tells a story in itself. It is an important Bill because, as the Minister of State said, it is a civil rights Bill for the most marginalised people in society. I thank all Members for their assistance and support.