Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Is cúis áthais agus onóra dom a bheith atofa. Déanaim comhghairdeas le mo chomhghleacaithe uilig. Cuireann sé dualgas orainn ár ndícheall a dhéanamh gach lá ar son na ndaoine, na gcomhairleoirí agus mhuintir na gcoláistí.

I salute the first speaker of the day, the person who took the Chair and who is the new father of the House. In so doing he recognised the former father of the House, Paddy Burke, who had very strong Cavan connections. We are very proud to say the current father of the House, Senator Wilson, is a Cavan man. He is indeed a person of very high calibre and integrity and a person who brings very good values to politics. It is appropriate somebody like him should stand the electoral test of time and be here to show there is a place for integrity and decency in politics.

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his election to the Chair. I worked alongside him in the past as Leas-Chathaoirleach and we did a lot of good reforming work together. Something I am distinctly proud of that I was involved in and took specific responsibility for as Leas-Chathaoirleach was the integration of our European MEPs into the governing process here. We had a number of seminars here with the MEPs and interaction with the Members of the Seanad, to great effect. It was bringing the Seanad into the European model and vice versa. It was a very real reform of the Seanad. I salute the Cathaoirleach for that and have no doubt he will continue in a similar vein this time.

In that regard, I pay tribute to his predecessor, Deputy Buttimer, and congratulate him on his elevation to ministerial office. I wish him well. He will bring an extraordinary skill set and a lot of experience and there is no substitute for that.

I congratulate my good friend and colleague, Senator Kyne, who again brings extraordinary experience, from the time he was demoted to the Lower House right through local government, to the Leadership of the House.

In the last Seanad I majored from the very outset on the pernicious addiction that gambling is in the country. I advocated for a gambling regulator and anti-gambling legislation to curb the advertising, etc. I received great support in that.We became a trio doing it week in, week out, namely, me, Senator Shane Cassells, who made a great contribution to this Chamber, and Senator Mark Wall, who, despite his demotion to the Lower House, I wish well. He is one of the fine people we had here and we did that.

I put the Leader and the Cathaoirleach on notice that I have decided that I will major in this term on something I think is important and which I heard my colleague from Cavan, Senator Tully, allude to, which is the waiting list for CAMHS, the structure of CAMHS and the fact there should be no waiting list for any young person in need of professional support. It should be available within a very instant call. Similarly, I want to put an emphasis in this term on the need for our young people to be called for tests for autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and a range of issues that arise in school and elsewhere. We need to think outside the box in this sphere, to look north and west as we have done in other spheres, and use professionals there and use the private sector. We have to look at people with fewer qualifications doing some of these tests. There is a manual for many of these tests with a set of questions and signs. It does not necessarily take someone with a couple of PhDs in psychology to administer those tests. We will have to be imaginative and do something so that there will not be waiting lists for CAMHS, for autism tests or for a range of other tests. That will be my big issue for this term. I tell my good friend, Senator Kyne, that he will hear from me on this virtually every week and I will insist we have debates on this. It behoves us as a country with the level of wealth we have now. It is a crying shame that in this great republic of which we are collectively proud, of which we feel very real ownership, with a real stake and in which we wish to play a very real part in building, with the wealth it has at this stage, there are people on waiting lists for support from CAMHS. An appalling vista could arise if they do not get the help they require. We cannot have a wealthy society like this where that aberration exists. I will not stand for it and I know most Members of the House feel the same.

A day like this is very special for us. Of course, I congratulate all the veterans and all the wonderful new people who bring enormous talent, vitality, new beginnings and a new energy to the Seanad. I welcome them. If we claim Senator Costello, whose extended family in Cootehill I know very well - they are friends of mine and I was talking to her uncle the other day - for Cavan-Monaghan, which we could legitimately do, then we actually have one tenth of the Seanad for Cavan-Monaghan.

As we sound personal notes today, and it is an emotional and a special occasion and a huge honour for each of us, just as it is a huge honour, it is also a huge responsibility and we have a duty. In the context of family and welcoming people, I welcome my two wonderful sons, Eoghan and Dáire, to the Visitors Gallery today. They have been an enormous support to me in practical terms throughout this campaign. My son Eoghan was making phone calls to friends of his for me and my son Dáire was writing literature for me and making sure it got into envelopes. He is smarter than I am. You get the talented people to do what they are good at. I am very proud they are here and I especially welcome them. However, let us all decide that we are here for the common good and let this be the first day of a great working Seanad where we will bring about real change for people and where lives will be better because of it.