Senator John McGahon- speech from 16 Dec 2021

Thank you very much, Alaska Hearlach. Minister, it's great to have you in the House on our last final days before Christmas. And just to follow on a couple of points really from what Senator Conway said earlier, like the whole concept of the social welfare system in any modern society is that it's there as a safety net. It should be there for people when they encounter some sort of huge unexpected difficulty in life that they're able to fall back upon. And it is an absolute testament, I believe, to the Irish state when you see how widespread and how effective that safety blanket was for thousands and thousands of people throughout this country over the last 18 months. It's another testament actually to the state when you see how effective and reactionary the system was to be able to reintroduce supports as quickly as possible, to then withdraw supports as the country opened back up, and then as things got difficult at different stages to be able to reintroduce it as well. So I think that reactiveness has been actually a really telltale sign of how successful your stewardship is, Minister, of this department, and how successful the government have been as well. And when you compare that to other places in the European Union, when you compare that to our nearest neighbours and other places on the continent, the reality is quite stark in comparison. So I think I'd just like to put it on the record of this House, Minister, that the whole concept of social welfare is there as a safety net. And we were really able to offer a huge safety net to thousands and thousands of people in this country who needed it at the very worst time of this whole entire pandemic. Just as we do approach Christmas, Minister, and we may not have an opportunity to say this again to the new year, I'd like to commend you for all the brilliant work you've done in multiple departments this year. But I would also like to really compliment the work of your staff and your department staff, who at all times have been extremely helpful, not just to me, but to members of all political parties and none. And again, Minister, that is a testament to your own personal work ethic, that you instil the same work ethic in your staff. And we'd just like to take that opportunity to say thank you, thank you very much to that. Cahirloch, I think I will wrap it up with that, Cahirloch, and I'll switch with you if that's possible.