Senator Gerard P Craughwell - speech from 27 Mar 2020

I've got to go here. Look, I won't delay you long, Minister. This may be the last time I'll ever speak in this House. I don't know. Yes, I'll let you know Thursday morning. I want to thank my colleagues, first and foremost, for the support that I've always had since I entered this House. And I want to thank the Government for the way in which I've always been treated any time I ever sought information or assistance. I always got it. Minister, when you see the words emergency measures and the public interest on the front of a Bill, it strikes horror in the hearts of all Irish people dating back to 2008 or thereabouts. I want to compliment you and the Government for putting the citizen at the centre of this legislation, for thinking of the people of this country first, for making sure that people have incomes and that they have something to look forward to in what must be the blackest days in some of our lives. It is amazing as you wander around supermarkets, and I've only done it twice since we were asked to stay, home. I went out for essential supplies and to see how people are actually afraid as you walk towards them and how they look towards the ground, almost embarrassed to say that they are afraid. And I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't petrified myself of the likely outcomes of this virus. I hope to God it passes my door and doesn't enter the doors of anybody that I know. So, I think you have done a good job. I think you have put the citizen first. My final kick, of course, is please go back and have a look at the Defence Forces and do something on the military service allowance. They are decent young men and women who should be training as cadets. Today they are taking phone calls. Apprentices and recruits are the same thing. So, I would ask you to do that as my final word in the channel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.