Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader of the House. There has been a long interim since I was last in this seat and I thank all those who supported me along the way. It was a pleasure to engage with people who care passionately about their communities throughout the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland over recent months as I sought their support to represent them in the Seanad.

Somebody said yesterday that it did not really matter where any of us come from because we have a national mandate, which we absolutely do, but I do think where we come from is important. It informs who we are and gives us a sense of place, which is all the more important when we see displacement around this country and across the globe. I am a proud Kildare woman, from the county of St. Brigid, and normally I have the opportunity to wish everyone a happy St. Brigid's Day, which happened the weekend before last. I wish Senators the spirit and legacy of St. Brigid in the months and year ahead.

When I talk about displacement, yesterday morning, as we were preparing to come for our first sitting here, I received a number of early calls and communications from the community of Newbridge regarding the news that had just broken relating to the Eyre Powell Hotel, a place where people have found a home. It is a direct provision centre and has been there for about 25 years. While we all agree the system is not the best, the centre is home to a lot of families, children and adults. Thirty-seven children have places in schools, of whom six are doing State examinations this year, and many of the people volunteer in the community or have jobs. They were given less than 24 hours' notice that they would have to move from there because of a fire hazard. Apparently, the hazard had been noticed over the past 18 months and the owner had been asked to work on it but had not done so. Thankfully, we have had some reprieve in the past 24 hours, but this is a very inhumane way to treat anybody. I ask those in the State bodies and the community engagement group to think harder about how they deal with these situations. We certainly hope we will be able to support those who are there.

The other point I raise relates to violence against women and the epidemic we have seen over recent years and, indeed, recent months. It takes two forms, one of which is domestic violence. It was horrific to witness what we saw over the Christmas period. We need to do far more. The second aspect concerns the random acts of violence that have been inflicted by men on women.It was very important that Cathal Crotty's suspended sentence was overturned. The Judiciary and society need to give a strong message that random acts of violence against women or anybody will not be tolerated in this country.