Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to convey my thanks to Tom Hickey for his contribution over the last number of years in the Houses. He is an absolute gentleman. I also want to praise our Seanad staff and all the staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas for the contribution that they make every day.

I attended a peace convention on Monday in Tipperary town, and Sabina Higgins was one of the guest speakers. It was lovely to hear Senator Higgins calling for peace here this morning. Sabina Higgins also called for peace at the convention. Both are very emotional women, and we could feel that emotion in the Senator's contribution today. Through music, poetry, readings and reflections, everybody at the peace convention expressed their wish for peace in this world. There are 18,000 people dead in Israel and Palestine now. It has to stop, but what figure will it stop at? There has to be a ceasefire. This is the holiest of holy times in the Christian calendar. I call for peace. Every leader throughout the world should be calling for a ceasefire and for peace at this time.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul claimed recently that it was helping 500,000 families in poverty this Christmas. My God, how we have failed. There are 500,000 families in poverty. There was a documentary on RTÉ yesterday evening that showed those families queuing up for bags of food and vouchers. It is heartbreaking to see. We are in 2023, and it should not be happening. We need to do better by our people next year.

I think of all those families, within this House and beyond it, who have lost a loved one, and where there will be an empty chair this Christmas. It really has been a terrible year for Ireland. I hope that next year, please God, will be a better one for this country. We need some good news next year. May God make 2024 a much happier year for the people of Ireland.