Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for her kind words and especially for her leadership in what have been some of the most challenging times I have seen in my 15 years in this House. We forget about all the rules that had to be changed because of Covid and about the agreement that had to be secured, without ever having a vote by all the Senators, in respect of the dramatic changes to our structures, not only regarding the debates but also the votes themselves, which caused no end of concern. We were concerned at times about where we would be allowed to vote in our own Chamber, and it was only through the work of all the party and group leaders and many long hours of debate that we managed to navigate that without any discordance. Senator Doherty's leadership ensured that all worked and that everybody managed to come to a consensus as to how we could navigate that start, which was fairly traumatic in its own right for what were many new Members and which was not normal, as they have learned.

Despite endless meetings of the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight, which had much debate on a lot of issues, I am delighted to say those issues never went anywhere, which is always a great sign of a committee working together. Without that, little would be done and people would not be able to express their views. That was down to Senator Doherty's leadership in the Seanad over the past two and a half years, and for that, I am grateful to have worked with her along with the Deputy Leader, Senator Chambers. They have been a great team and they have worked well together. Likewise, the leaders of the other parties and groups, Senators Pauline O'Reilly, Ó Donnghaile, Higgins, Boyhan and Moynihan, have worked very well together. What is great is that just two of the parties and groups are led by men and the rest by women. Indeed, all the Senators work together very well and the party Whips have the extraordinarily tough job of keeping the show on the road.

I thank also Martin, Bridget and all the catering staff, ushers and everybody who works so well here, including the Leader's Orla, who does great work behind the scenes. The Leader's office can be a like an air traffic control tower and, as she said, Orla is the office. Similarly, Grace in my office is my air traffic control, and she managed to squeeze five years' work into the past two and a half years. It has been a privilege to serve with the Leader and all Members of the Seanad. Over the past two and a half years, many people have lost loved ones, so we think of them and, of course, Seán Rooney's family.