I also echo the remarks of Senator Darragh O'Brien on the setting up of an electoral commission, as well as Senator Ivana Bacik's comments. As somebody who sat through a count from Saturday night until 7 a.m. on Sunday and who is returning tomorrow morning to a count in Dún Laoghaire, it is not acceptable either to those who work on these counts or to the candidates themselves. The individual councillor concerned, Jane Dillon Byrne, has been a councillor for 40 years and it is outrageous to find oneself in an electoral system in which one is subjected to that type of endurance test.

I also add my voice to the other voices that have paid tribute to the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore. It is important to remember that he has been the leader of the Labour Party for seven years, has led the Labour Party to its best ever electoral performance and to the election of President Higgins who has done the country nothing but proud.

History will be very kind to Deputy Eamon Gilmore. His key role, particularly in our very successful EU Presidency at a time when our reputation was, not to put too fine a point on it, in the toilet is something that will always be remembered. I also believe that he acted with dignity in stepping down when he did and that he did not subject this country to weeks and months of uncertainty. As a Labour Party Senator and the party Whip in this House, I thank him for that dignity and consideration he paid to the members of the Labour Party and the people.

I thank Senator Katherine Zappone for her intervention in regard to housing. It is a matter of urgency that we have a more fulsome debate on the Construction 2020 programme. There is a good deal that needs to be said regarding the housing crisis here. In regard to rent supplement, I have a letter from a lady whose rent has been increased to €1,300 and she is in receipt of €880. She has an autistic child and another child with special needs. We have reached a point where it is imperative that we deal with the whole issue of rent supplement and, as many Members will know, I have personally called on a number of occasions for the introduction of legislation to control rents. I echo Senator Katherine Zappone's call for the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to come into the House in order that we can have a more thorough debate on this matter. We will be speaking to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, tomorrow on the rent supplement issue.

I, too, pay tribute to all those people who stood for election. It always gives us pause for thought when we see so many good councillors from different parties lose their seats, sometimes through no fault of their own, and on this occasion it seemed the tide was out for the Government parties. We on this side of the House are aware of how quickly the tide can go out at certain times. I pay tribute to all those who fought a brave fight but unfortunately did not make it and to congratulate those who did make it. In the case of our party, particularly at local authority level, we have made some significant gains and that in itself is pleasing to somebody like myself who has run the Seanad trail.

I endorse what our leader in the House, Senator Darragh O'Brien, said on the medical card issue. I would also like to have a debate on that issue in the House as soon as is practicable and if one is not forthcoming I will move an amendment to the Order of Business not today but early next week to ensure we have a debate on it. It is mind-boggling that with regard to a number of medical card applications I have pursued for people who have a genuine reason for having one, there has been a demand for information such as home insurance details. I do not know what that has information has to do with an application for a medical card. I have come across three or four such demands. Also more information has been sought in respect of people in receipt of a disability allowance who have been means-tested. I am also surprised by the number of documents that have been submitted that have been lost or mislaid. People in receipt of farm assist who have been means-tested in the past 12 months, and whom the Department of Social Protection has acknowledged are entitled to farm assist, or people who are long-term unemployed, are being scrutinised again by the medical card central office. The Minister and his Government colleagues do not seem to realise the dreadful pedantic approach that is being taken in this respect. The Department was described by somebody previously as being in Angola and the approach to dealing with medical cards is so unprofessional and incoherent that those working in this area need to be given a kick where it would hurt.

Housing is a major problem not only in Dublin but nationally. In my county and home place of west Cork there is a great demand for housing and the number of people on housing lists has been the highest in the past decade. It is bewildering to think that this should be the case when there seems to be a huge surplus of houses throughout the country and that a great number of houses are now under the control NAMA. There might be a problem in terms of the number of houses and apartments in Dublin but somebody should rethink a national strategy to get people into houses that are currently idle and that cannot be sold.

I welcome a former Cathaoirleach of the House, former Senator Charlie McDonald, who is in the Visitors Gallery.

I join colleagues in congratulating all those who put their names on the ballot paper over the weekend and commiserate with very many fine councillors who lost their seats.

I pay tribute to the outstanding work they have done in their communities. I hope that many of them will return to public life. I congratulate our four colleagues in the Seanad who contested the European elections, namely, Senators Deirdre Clune, Thomas Byrne, Lorraine Higgins and Rónán Mullen. All of them performed admirably. It was a worrying development to hear Senator Lorraine Higgins speak on radio this morning about the awful personal abuse she received on social media during the course of her campaign. This is a matter we need to discuss in future.

I join my colleagues in thanking the Tánaiste for his outstanding contribution to rebuilding our country and restoring our reputation abroad. I have known the Tánaiste since our secondary school days in Garbally College in Ballinasloe. He is a man of great integrity and ability, and he put the country first. Every person in this country owes him a debt of gratitude. History will be kind to him.

I join the calls for a debate on the medical card situation. Now that the people have spoken, they have given a wake-up call to the Government. The people are impatient with the pace of recovery and, while they recognise that the country was in an appalling state when this Government took over, we need to redouble our efforts to grow the economy. I welcome that significant numbers of additional jobs were announced today for Galway and Athlone by SAP and Ericssons. The Government has been seen to be somewhat uncaring on the issue of medical cards. Some of the questions that people are being asked defy logic. We need to examine this entire area. I question the quality of the management team running the medical card system. Is it fit for purpose? I suspect it would not survive in private enterprise. I urge the Leader to organise a debate on the medical card system at the earliest opportunity because some of the decisions taken in recent times are not right.