Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome Senator O'Hara to Leinster House. As somebody from a minority background, it is wonderful to have somebody here speaking on behalf of Northern Ireland. Senator Ó Donnghaile did a great job and Senator Currie certainly does a great job in that area so I suspect Senators O'Hara and Currie will have many conversations to benefit the people of Northern Ireland.

I also congratulate Simon Harris on becoming Taoiseach - the youngest Taoiseach in our history. I have worked with him for 13 years. The Cathaoirleach knows that he delivers on his commitments. I engaged with him three times when he was Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on very specific issues relating to disability. One involved a visually impaired lady who had come here from Ukraine and wanted to do a degree but could not get a grant and the system did not facilitate her getting a grant. The then Minister met her and resolved the issue. Another example of the type of work he did involved a Syrian lady who got probably the second or third highest leaving certificate result in the country last June but was finding it very difficult to get the finance to go to Trinity College. He met her at our think-in and within three or four days, he resolved the problem so Simon Harris resolves issues. He gets things done. He might not get everything right but I am extremely confident that we will see a Taoiseach who will deliver and deliver quickly. It is appropriate that we pay tribute to Leo Varadkar, a Taoiseach we thought we would never see again because he was such a gentleman and did things with distinction. He did so much quietly and privately for people that nobody will ever know about. I acknowledge and salute his team because it was outstanding.