Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and all my colleagues in the House. This is a good time to have had two hours dedicated to young people. It is the least they deserve. In the discussion we have highlighted their challenges, how they have overcome their challenges and how extraordinary they have been in the last year.

I used to talk a great deal about resilience, and many community reports and so forth have the word "resilience" in their titles. I have become very uncomfortable with it because there are some people who have not been able to demonstrate resilience and I am very sensitive to ensuring that they do not feel that there is any type of failing on their part. This has been a real challenge. Some people were better able to handle it than others and for those who were not, it is important that we come around and beside them and bring them forward with us so their ability to overcome the challenges of the last year is emboldened.

As always, I loved Senator Ruane's contribution. I want to read her thesis. I have taught about equality. I have always taught the idea of equality in an employment setting and in childcare settings. The analogy I always use is the fact that I am 5 ft, 1 in. so I need a step to be able to see over a 6 ft wall. Some people will naturally be that tall and be able to see over the wall, but others need that step. For equality to be truly lived we must ensure that assistance is put in place for those who need it. That needs to be in the here and now in terms of our aspiration for young people. We must aspire for them to be anything that they want to be in the State and for them to have that opportunity. Where somebody is born and educated should not disadvantage a person. We should have a just society that ensures there are very directed supports to wherever young people are growing up and that we channel our funding, ideas and innovation to make sure that wherever one is, one can be whatever one wants to be. When I kiss my daughter goodnight I say: "You are Scarlett Seery Kearney and you can be anything you want to be when you grow up". That is the daily narrative she gets. Every child in the State should get that aspiration. It is important we do that.

What I like, and what debates such as this bring out, are the things that are critical of Government. I really love that the reports that are mainly quoted across our democracy are those that tend to come from organisations and bodies that are funded by the Government. A true democracy funds criticism, and funds us to take analysis of ourselves. I read the Children's Rights Alliance reports and the reports of the ombudsman. I am a member of the joint committee on children and the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. We analyse these things, we get disappointed and upset and we invite representatives of the bodies to speak to us. In many cases, the people who are sitting in the room are in positions that are funded by the Government. It does not stop them from speaking out, because we live in a democracy where at all times we need to be impassioned and emboldened to be the best we can be. However, we never arrive. The day when the Opposition and the Government are all saying, "We are great and we have done it really well", there will be something wrong. We will always be championing being better and stronger. That is very important.

I respect the ambitions of the programme for Government. There are great ambitions for young people. The Minister has already more than demonstrated that he is in consultation with young people. He is not yet a year in office, and we have come an extraordinary way. I marvel at the publications and the consultation. The "How's Your Head" survey was very good. It was a good and valuable engagement, an engagement that had the integrity of being interested in the outcome and having the outcome in power. I believe that everything is set in place to ensure we continue to listen to and embolden our young people, and that we value them in the here and now and not just what they are going to be. That is a lesson I learned strongly from the former Senator, Jillian van Turnhout, who kept saying to me that it is not about the future, but about who they are here and now. It is important that we listen to that.

I thank my colleagues and the Minister.