Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, wish to acknowledge the presence of the British ambassador, although he is not here now, and pass on condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Yesterday at Dublin Castle, the Ceann Comhairle and the Cathaoirleach led an event aimed at increasing the participation of diverse and minority groups in politics. It was an excellent event, with three segments; one relating to diversity; another to young people's participation in politics; and another to female participation in politics. Each of the three segments was of very high quality. The contributions, the standard of debate and the ideas that were spoken about were excellent. I propose that we follow up on this in the Seanad by having three separate debates on those specific issues. In particular, we should debate the issue of diversity and minority groups because that is an area in which we are failing badly. I commend our colleagues, Senators Warfield and Flynn, on speaking at the event yesterday, along with the other speakers. In terms of youth, it is shocking that there are only three Members of Dáil Éireann under the age of 30. That figure was a lot higher two decades ago. There is clearly an issue in that regard. Although gender quotas have worked and we have 40% female representation in this House, there is work to be done in that regard in politics overall, such as at local authority level, and indeed in Dáil Éireann. That is something we could debate. We could consider issuing recommendations to follow up on the good work that was done yesterday.

I agree with the remarks of Senator Crowe in respect of transport. I have spoken regularly on the issue of standardised fares. In County Clare, there are several different buses serving a route from north Clare to Ennis and they are charging different prices. We need to standardise it. It needs to be fair to everybody - urban, rural, within counties and within the country as a whole.