Before I call on the next speaker, I welcome a very special guest, or rather guests, to the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. Julie Lyons is here with all her family. If anyone has ever been to Leinster House and eaten food here, it has been made with the loving tender care of Julie and all her team. She looks after everyone in Leinster House as if they are one of her own. She is here with all of her own. There are two children, Miranda and Dan, son-in-law Ed, daughter-in-law Lorraine, grandchildren Ruby, Lily, Teddy and George, sister Deirdre and brother Eamon. Partner Brendan is away.

Since I came here in 2007, she has looked after me and everybody we have brought in here with special care. She makes every occasion an occasion. She has served under nine taoisigh and treated each one of them the same as she treats all Members. There are lots of jokes and she is not one to point out how people are doing but she has a great sense of humour. We will miss her when she is gone from us here as she heads off for happy retirement. She must make sure to visit us loads - she does not have to do any more of the cooking. We really enjoyed all our time with her when she wandered around the self-service restaurant or the Members’ dining room and made great conversation and great friends. I thank her for all her service down through the years. That deserves a big round of applause.

Far be it from me to give anyone life advice but in Kenmare when three brothers who had been running the bakery for 49 years retired, they put a lovely handwritten note on the window thanking all their customers, friends and neighbours and everyone in the town for their service to the bakery and support down through the years. They wrote on the note, “Now we must learn the art of how to spend time without spending money”. When Julie learns that art, will she come back and tell us all? I thank her very much for all her service to Leinster House down through the years. We really appreciate it.

Anois, Senator Maria Byrne.

I wish to be associated with the Cathaoirleach’s remarks about Julie and her retirement. I thank her for everything. I think she is with us for another week or two but I wish her all the best in her retirement. She has always been very kind and courteous and looked after everybody so well. The food and everything has never been a letdown. Julie really is fantastic not only in the job she does but also in how she chats to everybody and embraces life. I wish her and her family the best in her retirement.

I received an email from a young girl recently who has very severe Crohn's disease. She spends a great deal of time in hospital because of her immune system and how weak she is, but she is thinking of her future. Eventually she will be able to have an operation to help with her illness but she is thinking about down the road, whether she would get married, her fertility and if she was to become pregnant. She was looking to see if she could have some of her eggs frozen. This is not covered by the Department of Health. You can have eggs frozen because of many illnesses but not Crohn's disease. This young girl is distraught and upset about how sick she is and thinking about her future. She is only 18. There needs to be some sort of flexibility for people who have a debilitating illness now. There is a chance that down the road in the coming years she will have a more balanced life and will not be as ill as she is now. She has not been at school for two years because she has had to spend so much time in hospital. The Department needs to be flexible in its approach and look at how it can support people like this young girl into the future because this means a lot to her. I would welcome any support the Leader can give me, such as writing to the Department, highlighting this issue and saying that he supports it.

First, I salute Julie Lyons in our Distinguished Visitors Gallery with her huge family. I do not think the Gallery can take any more. Well done, Julie. What can I say about Julie Lyons? She has wined and dined – I will stop there – world leaders. She has many a story she could tell but she is always discreet. She has a great sense of humour but she is always discreet, which is an important part of the job. She nourishes us and feeds us but more importantly she is a constant friend and colleague to us all and knows all our quirks and ways. We will really miss Julie. She is more than special. She went way beyond catering. She went on about hospitality, which should be at the heart of the Houses of the Oireachtas, the people’s house, as I always say. She has been at the very kernel and very core of that in receiving in a most gracious and generous way the first person to represent us in this House. I salute her and I say that on behalf of the Seanad Independent Group, which I lead. I offer Julie our best wishes and thank her very much.

On a more important issue, I have spent all of my career in Seanad Éireann as an advocate. I do not see myself as a politician. I am a politician, but my principal job is to be an advocate for the voiceless, the people who do not always have a say and who are frozen out from dialogue and political engagement and that is what I will always continue to be. Yes, people have rights and democracy is democracy, but let us all be respectful and give ourselves the space to articulate the views that we believe in. "Choice" is a word that is tossed all around the place, but we must respect everyone’s decision and everyone’s choice. That is really important.

Today I want to make another plea for the people who were in residential care in institutions in this State run by religious and by non-religious, by the State and by the private sector, in education or in care in any form. We know they were vulnerable people. We know through the redress scheme and dialogue, as many here have articulated, that many suffered at the hands of those who were entrusted to look after them. Many of them suffered mental abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse and torture. They were humiliated and undermined. Their connection with their families was cut. Today, there are people outside this House on a hunger strike seeking advocacy and an enhanced medical card. I simply ask that Members not walk by the gate today without stopping and talking to them and listening to them. They are real people with real lives but most of them do not have something that most of us have – partners, families or friends. They feel forgotten and marginalised. As long as I am here, for every day and hour I am here, I am committed to doing it because I lived that life myself. I walked that road and shared that experience. That is what empowers my gut and drives me. I will not be stopped, discouraged or dissuaded. I will be true to myself and I will not stand for something I do not believe in. I thank my colleagues. Many have been consistently supportive of me in this advocacy work and I hope I can continue for a long time to keep that work, that candle and that flame burning. We have a task – we have an honour and a privilege – to shine a light in a dark place, to give hope to people. I hope we will be united, as most of us are, to continue with that advocacy work.