I will be brief. At the end of the political term, it is important to reflect on where we are and where we are going. As others have done, I wish everyone across the Chamber a rest over the summer months, most importantly the staff who have facilitated us every day we are here. Democracy is very important. Any of us watching television last night, whether it was the Brexit debate in Britain or what happened in Helsinki between Trump and Putin, will have realised that democracy is very fragile. In these Houses at least, we should always say to ourselves that, whatever arguments we may have, left and right, we have an opportunity here to do a great deal of good when we work together. We should never underestimate the importance of that.

Democracy is not something we can take for granted and we should never be complacent about it. We should never assume we will always have it in Ireland and we must work every day to ensure people believe in it and in our democratic institutions. People should believe their Parliament, local authorities and politicians work for them. When we see what is happening across Europe, the United States and Britain, we should be proud of what we are achieving in this Oireachtas. Our country is wounded and we are coming out of a very difficult time. While we have made improvements and can, hopefully, look to the future, my brief experience here since 2011 suggests that politics works best when we work together. There have been great examples of that from every party and Independent in the Houses. I hope everyone enjoys their rest and I look forward to working with and, indeed, against certain people when we come back in September.