It is indeed a day of change, shock and surprise to so many of us here in Leinster House. I am a Taoiseach's nominee and a person who is new to public life. I say new but it is now four or five years; I am not so new anymore. The leadership of the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has been something that has been inspirational. At close quarters, working together in a coalition on the programme for Government and with different parties, I have seen things getting done. That has been a mark of this Government and of the Taoiseach as part of it and leading it. We have seen his humanity and his empathy in the speech that was given today. We have seen what this means to the man who has given an awful lot in terms of sacrifice for public service. In public life, we need people of courage and conviction. We need people with that humanity and kindness. That is something that has marked me over the past number of years. It is a major shock because this is the person who nominated me and who brought me to this role in public life and to be able to represent my region. It is very important that he is acknowledged as someone who looked at the country as a whole and who acknowledged there needed to be representatives from all parts of the country both in the Dáil and the Seanad.

We are seeing now that the country is at its highest population. We are seeing the most people back at work. These again are all elements of Government policy over the past ten to 15 years that have been brought to bear. There has been a lot of groundwork in that. The investment in our hospital networks and beds that we are seeing in regional areas is absolutely crucial. When it comes to being able to deliver services, that is something we have been able to do thanks to a prosperous economy. One of the other items I mention is what the Taoiseach has done-----

Time is up.

-----to make this country a better place.

I thank the Senator. It was just that people are straying all over.

I welcome the new Polish ambassador, H.E. Arkady Rzegocki and Agnieszka Skolimowska from the Polish Embassy. They are very welcome. I congratulate the ambassador on his appointment and we wish him well. We look forward to continuing the extreme friendship we have with Poland and the members of the Polish community who make a valuable contribution in our country. We thank all the Polish community for that. We wish the ambassador well in his tenure.

I now call on Senator Keogan.

We return to the House after the public vehemently and resoundingly rejected the proposals of the family and the care referendums. Today should mark a turning point for this Government and become a day on which the Government finally listens to the real concerns, difficulties and everyday issues of the population. With a voter turnout of 44%, the Government is now forced to acknowledge it is not listening to the pertinent issues of the public. Ireland does not need symbolic change but real changes.

Over St. Patrick’s weekend, we witnessed the embodiment of this Administration’s commitment to symbolic virtue signalling. Mount Street and Dublin city centre looked fine. No one visiting would have any idea that this was a city that had just destroyed the only homes that people who have come to this country availing of the IPAS system had, and who were greeted with inhumane and unlivable conditions. For those who witnessed these refugees being moved to the Dublin Mountains, it made for harrowing scenes but this is the way of our Government. It disposes of the inconvenient; once out of sight, out of mind. Immigration rates are at a staggering high and exceeded 100,000 last year. This country simply cannot cope with housing, health, welfare and infrastructural needs of the people already here let alone newcomers. Plans and action must happen now. I call on the Minister for integration to come to this House and have a real debate on providing information to all Members of this House, to the public and to communities long kept in the dark about the IPAS system, and on how it plans to fix its chronic failures.

The public has sent a message with the results of the recent referendums. It wants its Government to handle crises and real social problems. It wants the Government to, at long last, act on its mandate while this Government believes its goal is to score its success by appeasing ideological fantasies instead of the electorate. The women and mothers of Ireland have made their voices heard.

Any Irish mother would be right to tell this Government to cop on.

I also want to commiserate with our Fine Gael colleagues-----

I thank Senator Keogan. Tá an t-am caite.

-----on the announcement by An Taoiseach. Of all the people I expected to resign this morning, it was not him.