Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to use this opportunity to thank and acknowledge a few people. I congratulate the Cathaoirleach. I first met him during his first election campaign in Dún Laoghaire. I was a councillor there from 1999 onwards. I met the Cathaoirleach during every election campaign and I was always taken by his energy, enthusiasm and belief in something bigger and greater for the island of Ireland. People questioned that and suggested there were alternative motives for that but I never agreed. I thought he was driven, focused and determined and I know he helped many of the Members from Fianna Fáil who were elected in the last election. He gave them his assistance and support and he is a man who plays for the long game. Today he has reaped the reward, he is the victor and he is the Cathaoirleach. May he enjoy it because it is an important privilege for a few and I wish him well.

I congratulate the Leader. I have always been a great admirer of hers and I have never made any secret of the fact that from the day I came into the Seanad, in any engagement I had with Senator Doherty when she was a Minister, I got a response and people took up the call and followed through. People suggested she was a tough taskmaster and I congratulated her because that was what I wanted, that is the type of person that should be running a Department and that is the type of person who should be a Minister. Some of my friends here will recall that I suggested that the Seanad would be a great place for her and I am thrilled and delighted. Senator Doherty has proven herself. At a time when most people were hanging up and being dejected, angry and vexatious, she stuck with it and served the nation. People were in awe of her and some people did not quite know who she was as a Fine Gael Minister before that. I want to acknowledge that the outgoing Government was exceptional throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It stood up, it led and it explained. It must have been nice for the members of the outgoing Government in recent days to see it all come back, to see Ireland reopen and to see our shops reopen. When something is good and has been successful, it is important that we acknowledge that as politicians, so I acknowledge that and I look forward to working with the Leader, Senator Doherty.

I thank Senator Buttimer for his leadership in the outgoing Seanad and I thank Senator O'Donovan, the former Cathaoirleach. I particularly want to thank the Captain of the Guard, the Superintendent, the staff and the family of Leinster House. They are the people who make all of this happen. That is really important. I thank the Clerk of the Seanad and all of his staff and I thank everyone in Leinster House who makes our work so much easier. That is important and is something we should acknowledge.

I particularly thank the Covid-19 pandemic front-line workers. They are the people who we all talk about. It is too easy to stand outside a hospital and clap people. That is important too but there will be obligations under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts coming up regarding their pay and I hope all of us will push to acknowledge and reward the front-line workers of this country because we have become conscious of something more than ever before in recent months. We have become conscious that we have a good State. We can be proud of State services. They have to improve but they are important to us.

On behalf of the Independents who are in our group, I want to say that we will work constructively and positively with everyone but we will also call out bad government when it needs to be called out. We will work with everyone. We will tease out every line of every law that comes into this House because we have a revising role and we need to remind ourselves of that.

On politics and political parties, it was never envisaged by the forefathers of the State and of Seanad Éireann in how it was established - and it says nowhere in the Constitution - that we break out into political groupings. This has come about as a result of practice. It is not provided for in the Constitution that we would break out into political groupings. Perhaps that is something we need to look at.

Seanad reform starts here and it starts today. How we show respect for our mutual positions, how we deal with one another, how we avoid using language that incites hatred or discrimination and how we conduct ourselves as parliamentarians in the Houses of the Oireachtas represent reform. Let us go forward with a commitment that we will respect one another in our work, wherever we come from.

Each one of us is in this House legitimately. We have been elected or selected by An Taoiseach, which is his constitutional prerogative. It is important to say that. We are all the same in this House and it is important that we get that message across.Of course I am disappointed regarding Northern Ireland because we were led to believe a unionist would be appointed. I travel to Northern Ireland very regularly. I have family and friends who would describe themselves as moderate unionists. Many of them have contacted me in the past few days saying how disappointed and hurt they are. I appreciate that the Taoiseach had a difficult decision to make, and it was particularly difficult for this Government in that it had to set up a number of Ministries and choose 11 nominees, but this is important. It is disappointing. Along with a number of my colleagues, I met Ian Marshall in Leinster House today because that is the measure of the man. We had an exchange and he was positive, but I could not help feeling disappointed as I left that somewhere in this process we left out somebody who was articulate and capable, who made a case against Brexit in Northern Ireland and the UK, who made an outstanding contribution on agriculture and innovation and who, somehow serving only two years, was encouraged and asked by the Taoiseach to run for election. I took the time to google "Leo Varadkar" and "Ian Marshall" today. I could have printed off 35 pages of glowing reports on Ian Marshall by both Deputy Varadkar and Deputy Coveney, yet Mr. Marshall is not here. Then there is the matter of this wonderful diaspora. We need to look into this country again, reinvest, bring money in here and share our experiences. That is important, and we missed another opportunity there.

We bring our unique experiences, backgrounds and traditions to this job. We should never leave them outside. We are who we are. It is about being authentic to ourselves and being allowed and being given the space to be authentic in public life. I wish each and every one of the Senators well. In particular, I wish the new Government well. It has a difficult task, and there will be many challenges. The Ministers need time to settle into their Ministries. They will need time to look at the programme for Government and see how best they can bring it about. They will need time for the fiscal or job stimulus that is about to come.

I congratulate the Minister of State, Senator - most unusual - Hackett. For a number of reasons I am particularly proud. Her portfolio is in the area of agriculture, which is the area in which I got elected. One might ask what a fella out in Dún Laoghaire looking out at the sea is doing topping the poll on the Agricultural Panel. I will tell the House. It is about people, empathy and travelling around the country networking and supporting regional government, local government and the practitioners of local government, be they city or county councillors. I was born in Kildare and through circumstances came to Dún Laoghaire. I like to think I am both rural and urban, and both national and international, in my outlook. I look at international parliaments way beyond ours to learn. That is what I put that down to. The appointment of the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, demonstrates capacity and capability and the pathway from this House to the Dáil and from the Dáil back. I have no doubt there will be a mid-term review of Ministries and portfolios, and I hope other opportunities will come for other Senators to bring their expertise and experience to the Government.

I wish all of us well. I particularly wish you, the Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, every success for your term in office.