Eileen Flynn (Independent)

When I was appointed by the Taoiseach nearly five years ago, I spoke a lot about not wanting to be pigeonholed and not always wanting to just be the Traveller Senator. That is something that I am grateful for, especially in the past few months. I have proven my worth by getting elected on my own merit. I thank all of the people who voted for me. It is absolutely amazing.

What I am going to say next will be like me wanting my bread buttered on both sides but this is not the case. I emailed the Labour Party three weeks ago and not once did Deputy Smith reply. I am not doing that out of entitlement. I sent him a message simply asking if we could speak about the Chair of the Traveller committee. I got no response until today. He provided me with a few words saying that Deputy Lawlor is now the Chairperson of the Traveller committee and to basically speak to him. The Government failed as well. I will not use the word 'lied', but they misled the public in saying there was no opposition to the Traveller committee being formed using the d'Hondt system. It is my understanding that at the meeting of the Business Committee on the formation of the committees, even Government TDs said members should take the opportunity to decide, as they did the last time, without using the d'Hondt system. It is brilliant that the Traveller committee is a standing committee as it means it will be here long after my time. However, this is misrepresenting our community. It is like having an Irish language committee of the Houses with a French speaker leading it. It is absolutely appalling this has happened. I understand there is nothing the Leader can do about it, but I want to put my concerns on the record and address the Government and Labour Party. While many people will be surprised at the Labour Party, I remember what it did to people on the margins of society when it was in government. This is another example of that.