This morning, I would like to wish everyone a happy St. Brigid's Day. Brigid was born in Louth 1,500 years ago, so we are very happy that she is being recognised to the extent that she is being recognised. I congratulate Louth County Council's arts office and tourism team, Dundalk BIDS and all the community groups around County Louth who have come together and made the celebration of Brigid 1500 a real showstopper in north Louth. The "northern lights" are happening in Dundalk's Market Square, and if Senators have not seen it on Facebook or social media, I recommend that they at least look it up but also attend. There is a light show every night until next week. There are Brigid: Lady of Light theatrical performances, one of which we saw last night. I have to say it was uplifting and absolutely incredible, with a mixture of opera and Irish dancing. There is such creativity, and it is original. It is the work of the arts office in Dundalk and An Táin Arts Centre. I am really proud to have had a small part in encouraging that and working with them all to make sure we had Brigid 1500 celebrations.

In all the hype, celebration and modernity of festivals, we should all think about what St. Brigid's Day means. It is all about peace and healing. It is the first day of spring today. It is the shedding of the old and walking into the new. We should all walk forward in the spirit of St. Brigid today and every day, and try to remember that peace and healing. We have a world in conflict, and I think we should embrace that.

I am wearing my pin today for Lá Fhéile Bhríde. It is fitting that today, one of the strongest women in Irish representation, Antoinette Cunningham of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, is retiring. Antoinette leaves behind some fantastic achievements, including access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court for members of An Garda Síochána. She will be a tough act to follow, and any of us who have watched interviews over the years with Antoinette will have seen that she is a tough woman in her job. I wish her all the best for the future. Whatever challenge she takes on, I doubt she is going to sit at home and do nothing. She was a tremendous representative and it is important that we recognise some of the great women who led Irish trade unionism, which sort of belies the notion that the Constitution requires all women to stay at home, as stated by the Minister. I could not let that go.

When the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013 was introduced, as part of what was happening in the Department of public expenditure and reform, one of the lunatic decisions that was made forced members of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces, when they retire, to sign on to the jobseeker's payment for the second half of their pension. Their pensions are now co-ordinated with the social welfare contributory old age pension. They have to go and lie, and say they are available for work when they are not. Members of An Garda Síochána spend 40 years of their lives upholding the law but they cannot access the supplementary part of their pension unless they lie. Moreover, members of An Garda Síochána have to go into the dole office or the post office to sign on for the jobseeker's payment, and frequently find themselves standing with people they arrested maybe a week or two ago. It is just wrong in every sense of the word, and I wonder if we could have a debate on that in this House with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.

I thank Senator Craughwell. I want to join with him in wishing Antoinette Cunningham every success in the next chapter of her life. She was a very strong advocate for members of An Garda Síochána, and those of us who met her and engaged with her always found her to be a person of conviction and also a person of huge courtesy. As Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, I wish her well.