Well done.

I thank Mr. Martin Groves, Clerk of the Seanad, and congratulate the Acting Chair on his elevation.

I echo the comments made. I thank Mr. Groves, Ms Doody and all the staff, including the ushers, throughout Leinster House, whose courtesy over the past four years has made it an honour to be a Member of the Oireachtas. We now go to the doorsteps seeking to keep our roles. My aim is to be a Member of the next Oireachtas. I look forward to continuing the advocacy work I have done over the past four and a half years for the betterment of the lives of the people in my community and my constituency, Longford–Westmeath, and others throughout the country, particularly those in the autism community, for whom I have advocated tirelessly over the past four and a half years. Much work has been done by the Government and many changes have been made, but many more need to be made. In this regard, I am looking forward to advocating on behalf of those I represent.

Let me refer to a couple of issues that are pertinent at this time. I have always been an advocate of the M4. We have managed to get it back into capital plans. We struggled to get funding for it and then got it. The project is now at a stage where there is funding to identify a preferred route in the coming months. I want to make sure the capital funding will be in place in 2025 and 2026 to ensure the project proceeds. The midlands and north west are entitled to the same benefits or economic good fortune as elsewhere in order to ensure connectivity to our capital city.

In recent weeks in my constituency, we were notified that up to 1,000 international protection applicants were to be housed in Athlone, a town with a population of 23,000.

We were notified at 3 p.m. on a Monday, while we were all in our constituencies, about a meeting the following morning here in Dublin. That is not the way to do business. We need to engage and consult the public representatives and people and community on the ground. As a town, Athlone is struggling with traffic, facilities, including sporting facilities, and with people looking to get on doctors' lists. We need to look at this again and I ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to do so. I know there is a need for international protection sites. We have to look after those people who come to our country but we also need to make sure the facilities are in place in the areas we choose. That is important, so I ask there be further and proper engagement with the community, organisations and public representatives in the area to make sure the proper facilities are in place. The reality is, as it stands, those areas are struggling with the lack of facilities.

It is difficult to believe that today's Order of Business is the last one in this Dáil and Seanad term. Something that is very close to my heart is services supporting women and children who are going through domestic violence. I have spoken numerous times about being in a refuge myself as a child. There will be an event on 16 November in Drogheda. One of the ushers, Brian Howard-Andrews, is hosting a Tina Turner lip sync event in Drogheda. Last year, they raised approximately €8,500 and this year we hope to raise €15,000. It involves local businesses. For one of the ushers to approach me and ask me to become a judge and build up those relationships over recent years has been absolutely incredible.

I thank Deputies Thomas Pringle and Catherine Connolly and Senators Alice-Mary Higgins, Frances Black and Lynn Ruane for not just being very good colleagues but absolutely great friends. I also thank Deputy Eamon Ó Cuív, who is a member of Fianna Fáil, and I believe that during the past four years he did not give me any handouts - far from it - but always gave me a hand-up and spoke truth to power when it came to the inequalities Travellers experience in society. I genuinely mean this with all of my heart when I say that every single person in this House - whether I agree or disagree with them - has educated me. I thank each and every one of the Members here for being part of my journey. I thank them for opening up their eyes and listening to me. I hope I have broken down some prejudices within these Houses. With all my heart I thank the broadcasters as well. Billie and Lacey get to see me on the television. I thank the ushers, kitchen staff, bar staff and the clerks of the Seanad, who go above and beyond for us all. On that note, thanks so much and I wish everyone every success.

Well said, Senator Flynn. Congratulations to Senator Ahearn on his elevation today. I thank Martin, Bridget and all of the staff here, including clerical staff, the ushers who are so helpful every day, the gardaí and the security forces who keep the House safe, and Darren and all the catering and bar staff who look after our needs daily. I thank everyone who has been involved behind the scenes and run everything so smoothly over the past five-odd years.

I wish Senators Malcolm Byrne, Kyne and Carrigy the very best in running for office in the Dáil. I do not know if anybody else present is running for the Dáil. Indeed if Senator Keogan or Senator Black want to run for the Dáil, they would be two exceptional candidates considering they are on the industrial and commercial panel. I feel they would be two exceptional TDs, but I am working on that one.

I will make a comment on three losses, two that have a Meath note. I will never forget the first day my good friend, Senator Cassells was elected. We put a great push into his very first campaign to get him elected to the Dáil. Nothing made me happier than to see his excitement on that day. He was at home and we discussed it on the phone and he was going to polish his shoes to get ready to go over to Navan that day. That is a moment in time I will not forget.

Senator Ned O’Sullivan has been a great servant and has always had a very nice, secure and safe word to say to people who were starting off. They could be overambitious and Ned would always be very rounded and gave very good advice, so I appreciated that over the years.

Coming back to the Meath part of it, I was very sad to lose my great parliamentary assistant, Damien O’Reilly, during this term, who was a councillor and great friend to this House. I still think about him every day and it was a great loss to this House, his family, his young child, his mother, his partner and everybody. It was so sad how everything turned out but, thankfully, his family is coping.

I thank the auctioneers, the IPAV, who nominated me to this House and, please God, will nominate me again. We have worked on quite a lot of legislation on their behalf and, God willing, we will continue to do so. Over the coming months after we get the general election out of the way and the work we will do with our local TDs - Robert Troy, in my case, and Joe Flaherty - we will see all the councillors who have been so good to me during my time as a Member of the House and on whose behalf I will continue to work, as well as outgoing Senators and newly elected TDs. I thank everybody for making this such a nice experience over recent years.

When I was first elected to the House 18 years ago, I opened my record here by speaking on behalf of the LNG project on the Shannon Estuary which, all those 18 years later, is still battling its way. I know my Green Party friends have been very opposed to it. I think at this stage the courts have adjudicated on this matter. There are a huge number of jobs at stake for my region, a region which has suffered greatly from emigration over all of those years. I wish it well during my final comments in this House.

It strikes me that, barring accidents, this is my last opportunity to speak in this Chamber. Mind you, I recall the Seanad was brought back during one election. I think Senator Mark Daly contrived to bring us all back on some very important issue, so who knows. As it is my final time here, I wish to say that I have enjoyed the immense privilege of being a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas. I regard when I got elected to be here as being the high point of my life and, thankfully, I succeeded in being re-elected on four occasions.

I owe an awful lot of thanks to an awful lot of people. With the Acting Chair's indulgence, I wish all my colleagues here nothing but the best. I have crossed swords with a number of people here from time to time. I have no personal animosity against any individual Senator here. If we had hot words, it was out of commitment and passion perhaps. I wish every one of you well. For those who are seeking election, I wish you the very best, and when you come looking for my number one, I will give every one of you the utmost consideration and promise you all. It is nice to be the other side of it.

I thank everybody in the Seanad Office, starting with Martin Groves, who has been an outstanding public servant and represents all that is best in Irish public service. He, Bridget and all his staff in the Seanad Office have been so wonderful. You could not fault them and I am delighted Martin is still here at the helm and I know everything will be run properly. I also thank the ushers and all the ancillary staff of the House. I will find my own way of thanking those in my own time, but particularly our Seanad staff.

I owe an awful lot to Members here. It has been a huge learning experience every day.

I had highs and lows that I came through. I had developed an addiction which set me back a great amount. It was the biggest battle of my life. Thankfully, I have managed to be in recovery for five years, with the help of many people here, so I have no regrets about that. I received friendship from people here on all sides. It is amazing how you find your friends in all corners when you are in trouble and I will always remember that friendship from people here.

I wish those who put themselves forward well. I wish those who are retiring well. I will always keep an eye on the screen at home to make sure Senators are behaving themselves.