Gareth Scahill
Nominated by the Taoiseach · Fine Gael · Ireland
“Before we finish up I call for a debate on home care services when we come back in September. We all know the value of carers in our society but an awful lot of the HSE support service staff going into houses are private agency staff and when the person they are looking after goes into hospital or into respite the support they are getting…”
“Can we reset the clock? I will start by mentioning the "parents notify" portal on the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, website for special classes and special places, which has a deadline of 1 September.”
“Like previous speakers, the Leas-Chathaoirleach might allow me to thank the staff of the House, including the ushers and all the catering staff and, reluctantly, all of my colleagues in the House. We do not always get on or agree but there is great respect in the House.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House. Like so many of the previous speakers, it would be disingenuous of me not to concede I agree with some of the points in the motion.”
“The whole country has these facilities now, meaning that should we ever experience something like Storm Éowyn in 2025 again, we will have supports to allow people to continue to work remotely, provide for their families and live where they want to.”
“I do not believe one size fits all in Ireland. The Minister's county, my county and Longford are all in one big district and we have not benefited from additional Garda numbers in quite some time.”
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“Therefore, it is important the money is spent on that premises for it to be brought up to the required standard. I appreciate that this cannot take place immediately but we need to start the work and it needs to be started soon. Will the Minister show the people of Roscommon what the works will be and when they will start? If there is no movement on that, additional works will be needed at the temporary courthouse in Roscommon to address both the acoustics and the capacity issues.”
“I call on this House to request the Minister for public expenditure, national development plan delivery and reform attend to provide an update on the national development plan, specifically on the court services. In my area, the courthouse in Roscommon was moved to a temporary premises in 2022 to enable work to start on the courthouse when funding became available. The temporary courthouse was furnished to house the court sittings but always with the view that it was temporary. Since then, a number of issues around acoustics and capacity have been highlighted with that temporary facility. I remind the House that the courthouse in Roscommon is a fine building in a prominent location. It is accessible to the Garda station which is just beside it.”
“I believe Councillor Waldron's legacy is the multitude of volunteers across Roscommon and across the country who have taken up the mantle to follow his example. I would like to acknowledge that to the House.”
“Social inclusion was mentioned by community networks today and has been mentioned in the House. It does not have an urban-rural divide; it is something that affects us all and something I hope I can work on with people in the Chamber on addressing during the term of this House. I am immensely honoured and proud to represent Roscommon. In this House, our constituency is the whole country. We are all wearing the very same colours. I had just gotten used to calling Senator Brady a councillor and now I have to answer to something different. I am getting used to that. I am immensely proud and I look forward to working with everybody. What Anthony Waldron believed was that if you can leave something in a better way than you found it, then you have achieved what you were trying to achieve.”
“I worked with Anthony on it for the past two years. In the first year, we focused on rural potential, including tourism and, in particular, the economic potential of rural Ireland. That is what led us to the conference. There is immense rural potential in our walkways. It will not cost a lot of money to have an impact on communities and large numbers of people throughout the vein of Ireland. That will be something I will promote in memory of Councillor Anthony Waldron. As well as that, Anthony was a great man for social inclusion and tackling isolation. He started a programme about 18 months ago to reinvigorate the rambling houses. The project encouraged traditional dancing and storytelling and the art of conversation, and attempted to re-engage people following Covid.”
“I also come from a local authority that started on 7 June with 18 members. By the end of September, we lost Councillor John Naughten, a close friend and colleague and somebody I looked to for advice and support. I believe he would be sitting in this House today had he lived. As other Senators have mentioned, my celebrations of being appointed to the Seanad were short lived because a colleague and friend, Councillor Anthony Waldron, passed away last Sunday morning in Roscommon. His funeral is later this week. It would be remiss of me, on a day like today, not to acknowledge the impact that an independent councillor like Councillor Anthony Waldron had on Ballintubber, west Roscommon, Roscommon and rural Ireland as a whole. The Suck Valley Way conference was mentioned, with which I was involved.”
“I have been an advocate for rural Ireland and its development, and have shouted about what we have in rural Ireland, for quite a number of years. Senator Rabbitte is beside me. During Covid, she came to see how we were doing outdoor bingo in Castlerea. We were reacting to conditions at the time and wanted to get people outside. It was great to get acknowledgement for things like that. Our club, and the people and volunteers of rural Ireland, came out and put their shoulders to the wheel, like we have always done when we have been called upon to do so. Since I was elected to the council on 7 June, a mentor, friend and former Senator and Deputy, John O'Mahony, passed away. He was a great supporter of me and Senator Duffy. He would be very proud to see the two of us in this House today.”
“It was a very stressful time for a lot of families, but the work done by councillors on the ground was immense. The communication they provided to constituents must be commended and acknowledged. The reaction of the local authority, Uisce Éireann and ESB staff must also be acknowledged in the Chamber. We attended an event this morning for the rebranding of the LEADER companies to a community network. A lot of organisations in the social inclusion and community activism programme, SICAP, put their shoulder to the wheel in the past couple of days and weeks and supported rural communities that were badly affected by the storm at a time when they needed support. They all need to be acknowledged for that. My journey as a politician is not that long of a story. My journey as a community activist, however, is a lot longer of a story.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am very proud to be here today. I am very proud to be, I believe, the sole representative of Roscommon in the Chamber. I want to acknowledge the Trojan work of two former Senators, namely Eugene Murphy and Aisling Dolan, in the House in the past term. I would like to acknowledge my family, my wife Nicola and my daughters Kate and Abbie, who accompanied me yesterday and turned the Seanad office upside down, with Martin's help. I did not bring them with me today to avoid a repeat of that. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my mother and father, Liam and Madeline Scahill, and my wider family in Roscommon and the Ballaghaderreen area in north Roscommon. This day last week, I, like 2,200 other households in Roscommon, was still without power following storm damage.”