It is interesting that Senator Malcolm Byrne should end his commentary on local government because I want to spend my few moments today paying tribute to one of the most distinguished county councillors this country has ever seen. We learned last night of the death of the Independent Councillor Noel Collins from Cork County Council. He was a wonderful man who represented east Cork first and was elected over 54 years ago. Many may not know but he started off as a Fine Gael councillor for a short period of time and he remained a poll topper. He was a true and remarkable gentleman and I valued him as one of my greatest friends in politics.

Councillor Noel Collins was one of the longest serving councillors representing this State and I visited him two weeks ago, which was the last time I spoke to him, at Oaklodge Nursing Home. One of the abiding memories of that was that he took my hand, held on to it and asked me if I was going home.

I took that as a sort of a prompt to wonder whether I had overstayed my time or talked too much. Our entire conversation was about politics. Indeed, he welcomed by thanking me, as the "county clerk", for coming to see him, and I said, "I ain't the county clerk." He said, "I know you're not; you're Victor. I'm only joking." We had a chat and, interestingly, he spoke about the former Labour Party Councillor Jane Dillon Byrne, so he could think far back. He asked me to take him home, and he said there was nothing better than being at home in one's own home, belonging to a community that values one.

There is a message in all that for us as politicians. As those who knew him will recall, he was a politician who had no mobile phone, no car and no computer, yet he connected with his people. He had little handwritten cards, recycled from the back of, invariably, Weetabix or Ready Brek cardboard boxes, and he stood at the church wall between his house, St. Jude's on St. Mary's Road, and the church, and he asked people who wanted to see him to make an appointment with him. He was a generous man, full of charitable deeds and work, and he worked behind the scenes, especially for the homeless and the vulnerable. Noel Collins was a tireless and fearless public servant, afraid of nothing and respected by all.

I met the parish priest in Midleton with him before Covid. The priest called him over and said, "Collins, I hear you're always down with the Protestants", to which Collins replied, "Yes, and this is one", pointing at me. He then said, "Father, you're missing one thing: God is everywhere and I'm following Him." That, in a way, summed up who Collins was. He was a man of great passion. He found a passion and a vocation. Indeed, he had always wanted to study for the priesthood, and when I asked him why he had not done that, he said he had taken another journey and another route. That shows the similarities between the roles of parish priest and politician. He was a truly wonderful councillor. He earned a devoted base of voters through his work. He walked with his people and broke bread at people's tables. He shared with people and cared for them. He was independent of mind and of spirit, and that made him best placed to be an Independent councillor.

We will miss him, as will local government, Cork County Council and the Association of Irish Local Government. We will truly never see his like again. May he rest in peace.

I will certainly request the Senator to give my eulogy.

Are you planning to leave?

I expect you to live for long after me.

I echo the words of Senator Boyhan regarding Councillor Noel Collins. I spoke in the Chamber less than three weeks ago when he stood down from Cork County Council after 54 years of dedicated, unbroken service. He was a great friend of mine for a long time. The last time I was in his home, he sat back and sang "The Stone Outside Dan Murphy's Door", which was quite amazing given the fact his house was called "St. Jude's". He did not have a mobile phone or a computer, he did not use social media, and his greatest challenge was trying to find a ribbon for his typewriter. I got regular correspondence from him on behalf of the people of Cork, particularly Midleton, and it was always about the poor man or poor lady or the person who was not well. Towards the end, he signed the letters he sent to me as "The Pest" because he considered himself a pest, but a pest for the right reasons because he wanted to look after his people.

I think there is a lesson in that. In the most recent local elections, in 2019, in the world of social media, emails and all the modern technology, he still topped the poll. Politicians, therefore, do not have to completely sell their souls to social media and so on to serve the people. His clinics were at the wall outside the church in Midleton, and I have to say, he was close to God in every sense of the word.

I sincerely hope, and know, that he will find his true reward in heaven. Ar dheis Dé. When one talks about Noel Collins and then one thinks of the 40 Catholics in Nigeria who lost their lives in a massacre it is appropriate we should think of them and send our solidarity to their families and the Catholics in Nigeria following what was an atrocious massacre.

On other matters, I welcome that County Clare has been included in the mica redress scheme. The decision by Cabinet today was the correct one. We know of almost 1,000 homes in Country Clare that have been directly impacted by mica. Those people deserve to be in the scheme the same as people in other counties deserve to be in it. I fear this problem is only going to get worse as people identify mica as a problem in their homes. The Cabinet decision is a welcome one. We look forward to the legislation, which I am sure there will be much debate around, because this is going to be a very costly exercise reflective of terribly poor regulatory oversight in the decades passed. We must welcome that there is proper and much more robust regulatory oversight and inspection of properties in today's world. I hope history will not repeat itself and we will have learned from the mistakes of the past.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir. The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, is next to speak, after a couple of false dawns.