I thank the Cathaoirleach for his kind welcome. I congratulate my colleague, Senator Horkan, and it was a pleasure for us both to be elected the other day. I thank everybody for their very kind welcome back today. I look forward to working with the many Senators who have never met me or engaged with me but heard from me via phone, Zoom or whatever. It is a great honour and privilege to be re-elected to Seanad Éireann. I enjoyed my four-year term from 2016 to 2020 and look forward to serving here. Many of the Senators who served with me in the past would know that I have always been very passionate about everything being for the greater good, and willing to support issues and debates here, certainly when I believed they were worthwhile supporting. I have always been prepared to give everything a fair hearing and my colleagues here will find that will be my mantra going forward.

I am disappointed that Senator Craughwell has left the Chamber because I am going to mention Limerick. He always says to me that I raise everything concerning Limerick. Senators Dooley and Burke raised issues concerning both the aviation and hospitality sectors. The aviation industry is very important for the mid-west, which is where I come from. I agree with the concerns expressed about the aviation and hospitality industries here today. I say that because I believe that wet pubs and gastropubs have experienced very difficult times and a special package should be created for them. I also support the call for the relevant Minister to address these issues.

I wish to pay tribute to the people who put their names forward for the Seanad by-elections and were unsuccessful. There were two former Senators, Billy Lawless and Ian Marshall, and Councillors Angela Feeney and Ciarán Ahern from the Labour Party, and Hazel Chu. I pay tribute to all of them. I have been in politics for more than two decades and for all of that time I have believed in competition as it is very healthy. I pay tribute to everybody who put their names forward.

Finally, it is an honour and privilege to be back here. I look forward to working with the Cathaoirleach, all of the Senators, Mr. Martin Groves, his staff, the ushers and everybody here in the House.

We look forward to working with the Senator and I now call on Senator Gerry Horkan.

I may have been in this Chamber once or twice to hear Nancy Pelosi and another couple of speakers but I have never had the opportunity to speak in this Chamber.

As Senator Boyhan said, people looking on may wonder whether we have been demoted, promoted or elevated. On 27 March last year, I did not think I would lose my seat and, when I did, I did not think I would be back less than 13 months later. I thank everybody here. It is a very strange experience, as a by-election candidate, and particularly one who happened to make it over the line on the first count, as did Senator Maria Byrne, to become aware that a majority of the Members operating in these Houses every day put a number one beside my name and elected me to this Chamber. I am humbled, privileged and delighted to be here. I thank everybody who was able to give me that number one but I equally appreciate the support of those who were committed to another candidate but who gave me twos and threes, which I may have needed, although I am thankful I did not. I aim to work with everybody, right across the Chamber, for as long as we are all here. Long may it last.

I pay tribute to the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, as leader of our party, for instigating an open and democratic process with the 58 members of the parliamentary process in which 12 candidates were allowed to present and in which I was ultimately successful, thereby allowing me to be the candidate. I also thank everybody across the three Government parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. There was a little bit of a blip with some of that but it is fine and grand. We got through it. Equally, there are Members from every party, and Independent Members, who supported me and Senator Maria Byrne. I acknowledge that and appreciate it.

As group leader of the Fianna Fáil group in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in 2014, I negotiated with the late John Bailey and Deputy Catherine Martin, who was then the group leader of the Green Party in that council, to form what was, I believe, the first Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael-Green Party arrangement in the country.