Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also want to take this opportunity to welcome my own colleague and friend, Councillor Anthony Waldron. I also welcome Professor Pat Guiry, the president of the Royal Irish Academy; Councillor Noel Heavey; and our other visitors to the Chamber.

I want to acknowledge the work that my colleague Senator Keogan and other members of our technical group have put into this legislation. I have not put a lot into it but agree there is merit in having a special award bestowed on people by the President of Ireland, an office that is very dear to the citizens of this country.

I am a former member of the board of Gaisce, The President's Award, on which I served two terms. I worked very closely with two Presidents in relation to those awards and both of them took an enormous personal interest in them. Indeed, I spoke with our former President, Ms Mary McAleese, briefly this morning in relation to another matter and mentioned that this debate was coming up. I saw the benefits of the President presenting the Gaisce awards. Later we adopted a policy of also having the Duke of Edinburgh awards which meant that citizens of this country could opt for the Duke of Edinburgh award or the Gaisce award. This reflected the new maturity and reality of the island of Ireland.

For those who do not know about Gaisce, the award is the highest that the President can bestow on a citizen in this country. There is a gold, silver and bronze Gaisce award. The award brings people together, particularly young people. It embraces inclusivity, positive community work and endeavour and is a source of great pride. People come, meet the President and receive their award. I see the benefits of recognition by the non-partisan and non-political President's office. I am also conscious that former Senator Feargal Quinn, who I knew very well and who nominated me to contest my first Seanad election, was passionate about an honours system. I took the time over the last few days to look at some of the transcripts of debates on this issue and was particularly taken by some of the debates in the Seanad. The former Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú said that if any proposed awards system was either tainted or divisive, we should not go any further. It needs broad political buy-in. I understand that the Government is not opposing this Bill at this stage. I ask the Minister of State to confirm that as I came late to this debate because I was attending a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

When I speak of awards, I am thinking of Irish citizens and Irish people who have gone abroad to the United States, Europe and elsewhere, as well as those living on the island of Ireland. In terms of our place in the world, it is clear that we excel in sport, literature, good works of charity, education and many other spheres that I do not have time to go in to now. The Minister of State knows what I am talking about. We are good at doing things. We are good at sport, literature, the arts, charitable works and education. We are leaders and we are supporters. We have many unsung heroes. Earlier today we had a debate on the mother and baby home redress scheme and throughout the day I have met at least ten or 15 people who were involved. Some of them were great heroes. They went way beyond the supports that they had themselves. They dug deep into themselves and gave something back. They were exemplary in the areas for which they advocated and championed. I am not suggesting that we can give everyone an award because we cannot.

This Bill proposes a mechanism based on independent due diligence and validation in relation to the criteria and the people who would be suitable for consideration for awards. An honours system is important, not just for the recipient but also because it designates role models and we need role models in our society. Many of us came into politics as a result of our admiration for people in political life and leadership. We were motivated to follow through, come in and go on a journey and follow a road or a vision based on their leadership. I see the value in recognising many of our unsung heroes but it has to be done in a professional manner.

Having listened to a number of the previous contributors, I accept that this legislation needs fine tuning. It is not totally right but is the basis for something we can get right. If we are to be successful, we have to work together collaboratively. No one political group or segment of a political group owns this proposal. There is a real need to work together and to collaborate on it. I hope that after today we will refocus and those of us who are interested in this legislation will work to see how we can improve it by engaging with people on it. Perhaps we can look to international experience in this area.

It is important that we wholeheartedly embrace this. I understand that the Government is embracing it to this point while recognising the importance of fine tuning it. Hopefully we can work on it with the support of the Government. I thank the proposers but accept that the Bill needs fine tuning, adjustment, further engagement and consideration.