Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I give support to the Houses of the Oireachtas Bill because we have to look at the work and the amount of work staff do daily for TDs, Ministers, Senators and everybody here who is elected.

I pay tribute to my own staff, who work extremely hard, and Independent Ireland staff, who have been very strong workers with us through the years. I heard Deputy Ó Cuív speaking a while ago about having a staff member up here, for which there is a huge need, and one person on their own in a constituency office. I have two offices, which leaves me very much stretched because we are busy. In fairness, that is our job. People come in every day raising issues of serious concern and our offices need to be adequately staffed. It would be wrong of me to say otherwise. I know there will be people asking what we need staff for but we do need them.

I pay tribute to Ellen Barry, Patrick Joseph Ryan and Valerie Ward and many others. They work day and night. They take calls at night. I do not ask them to do that but they do that voluntarily. They take calls during the weekend. They work way beyond the hours they are paid for because they are 100% dedicated. I was lucky to have people like Margaret Peters and others who were so dedicated to their job down through the years and gave it everything they had. That goes for all politicians; if you are doing your job right, you will be busy. The staffing levels we have are needed and they need to be adequately funded.

Transparency is very important and as politicians we need to be aware of that. We have not had transparency on a lot of issues here that are causing considerable upset among the public. People have burned the ears off politicians about the bike shed, children's hospital, security hut and mobile phone pouches. People are very frustrated that there is no transparency as far as they are concerned. That is a lot of waste that must be investigated. Businesses are closing all over the country. More and more people will question what kind of money we are spending and where it is going. We have to listen to that. With the VAT rate not being cut to 9%, a lot of businesses are in dire trouble.

It is very important for these businesses to be able to open their doors to make profit unimpeded. A lot of business people from Kinsale are very annoyed that there will be a power outage for a whole Saturday in November. This will cause a massive loss for businesses in Kinsale and every one of them opposes it. They say there is no problem whatsoever with power works that have to be carried out but let them be carried out on Monday or Tuesday when most doors are shut now. To close down on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, which are the only days they can open, to allow for necessary works on power lines puts businesses in a very difficult position.

I will not hold up proceedings because my colleague wants to speak. I support the Bill because working staff in the Houses, such as ushers, and all the other staff here, do a great job and we should support them in any way we can. We must support ourselves as well because otherwise we will not be able to deliver for the people. We deal with all sorts of issues on which we are not sure how to deliver. We cannot deliver if we have a low level of staff and if they are not adequately paid and looked after. I support the Bill.

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