Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Fine Gael did not elect one woman to the Seanad. That was a disappointment but, how and ever, the Taoiseach nominates 11 and the party nominates ten. I genuinely acknowledge the very substantial contribution by all of the ten women in the Seanad. That is fantastic. I like competition; it is good for politics. Hopefully, we will bring people up through local government and they will then come through, compete in the general election, then in Seanad elections and we will have a big turnover of Senators. Let us see it all the way through, not only half the way and stop. It is a full cycle and I wish it every success.

I thank the Minister of State for his work. He has done a fantastic job. I hope he will still be in local government after next Saturday because he has done an amazing job. What is more important, he has united people across the spectrum. One takeaway from all of this is that we should be mindful that we must not erode the powers of councillors. We have the Land Development Agency. We have An Bord Pleanála and planning. We have come from communities, community groups and community action groups. I know most Members here have been involved. Let us continue to support them. We will be challenged in the coming weeks. Let us see if people stand up for local councils then.