Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I offer my congratulations to the Cathaoirleach. I am very new to all this and so I do not have great accolades to go back on. I was struck by the fact that, this time three years ago, I was packing up my office and leaving the student movement where I had been the president of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI. I did not know what I was doing, where I was going or what was going to happen, so it has been quite an interesting three years. I am sure Members in the Upper House or Lower House got emails from me or were lobbied by me during the previous term. It will be much easier to catch them now that I am in the building as opposed to being on the outside.

We have a new Minister for Higher Education, Innovation and Science and I am very optimistic that, at long last, we will see action on higher education. I know another former member of USI in this House also and I look forward to working with them on higher education issues. I hope we see some action on that because I do not think it sustainable that it continues as it is.

I first went to college when the financial crash happened, and it was like going from technicolour to black and white in that everything suddenly changed. I am acutely aware that we are potentially on the precipice of yet another great recession. I hope the Members of this House and the Lower House are determined to ensure that young people are not left behind and that we do not have a swathe of people once again faced with what happened ten years ago. It is extraordinarily difficult and people of my generation - my colleagues and my friends - are still facing the repercussions of that.

I reiterate the commitment of my Labour Party colleagues to work with Members across this House on the issue of workers’ rights, ensuring collective bargaining and ensuring a fair day's pay for a fair day's work for all workers. We will also work for equality. I want to add my congratulations to Senator Eileen Flynn on her appointment. It is very important that we listen and learn from her and that we act on and support her in the work she is doing. It is very important, when people are speaking on behalf of a group, that we do not just allow them to speak and do the work, because we also have to come in and do the work. I commit to that and look forward to working with the Senator.

Many speakers have addressed the issue of diversity, who is in this Chamber and who is not in this Chamber.Other speakers have alluded to who is missing from this room. While gender representation has improved and 40% of Senators are women, there is still a lot more work to do. There are many types of people who are not in this room including people from the migrant community and people in direct provision. There are a number of categories of people who are not here. I ask that everybody in this Chamber commit to listening to those in their community and to ensuring that their voices are lifted up.

Of course, there can be no climate justice without social justice. My Labour Party colleagues and I look forward to working with people across the Chamber on that issue. As everyone has said, climate justice is one of the biggest issues we will have to face and tackle in the coming years.

If I were to be so bold as to sum up what everyone has said, we all want to work for a better quality of life for those in our communities. I look forward to working with everyone here to achieve that.

Many people have talked about their families and those who helped them get here. I thank my almost husband. We should be away on our honeymoon at the moment. I suppose I am fortunate that I am here instead, although I am still not married. Our time will come. I also thank my family. I am not from a political family. As I have said, it is accidental that I am here. I am very grateful for how quickly they learned what we needed to do to get me into this position over the last few years. I am also very grateful that they have accepted this new political realm into their lives.

I want to briefly recognise my sister who works in the area of disabilities and healthcare. She has been working extraordinarily hard throughout the Covid crisis. I hope this Government takes a long hard look at how we support people with disabilities and give them all the dignity we can. I have another sister who works in the arts sector and I am a former theatre person myself. Of course, the arts have carried us through this crisis. I do not think anyone could imagine coming through this crisis without the joy, optimism and creativity the arts have given us. I very much look forward to ensuring the arts are recognised in the way they should be.

That is all I have to say. I am extraordinarily grateful to be here. I wish the Cathaoirleach the very best. I reiterate the commitment of my Labour colleagues and I to working to improve the quality of life of every citizen of Ireland, both those who are represented in this House and those who are not. I look forward to working with those communities to try to help them and to lift them up so that in the next local elections and the next general election we might see a better reflection of the increasing diversity of the population of Ireland.