Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Cathaoirleach for running this House so smoothly over the last six months. I thank Martin Groves and Bridget Doody in the Seanad Office, and the Library and Research Service and the Bills Office for helping me out this year with the Gradam an Uachtaráin Bill. Although the Government might want to see me go away with that Bill, I will probably try to get it into the House before Christmas. I thank Alan Ruane and his team of ushers, and Julie Lyons, John Walsh and the catering staff who make life around this House easy for us all. I thank Gráinne, Mark and Robert in my office for all the support and help they give me, and all my colleagues in the Independent Group, who try to keep me on the straight and narrow and sometimes fail. Nevertheless, I still try, as do they.

There a few items that are coming up next term, including the hate speech Bill, which really is the cornerstone of our democracy. I really hope that my colleagues in the Chamber will scrutinise the Bill and bin it, as such. Before we finish up, I also want to highlight the allegations that were made in a report recently about the grooming of children in care. The issue was not debated by the children's committee before the summer recess I am hopeful that will happen in September or October.

This is a watershed moment for RTÉ and for everybody in politics. It is all about trust at the end of the day. People trust us to run the State correctly. They trust organisations in State corporate governance. We are the guardians of that. It is most important that we stand up for trust in this House. If we learn nothing else about what is happening downstairs, we have to learn that that is the cornerstone of what people want us to do. They want to trust in us, and we have to have trust in the organisations out there that are doing what they are supposed to be doing for the people of Ireland.