Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My apologies. Strength of our parliamentary system and our political system is that, by and large, the political system supports the Minister and the Government of the day while they are on international business, whether it is at EU level or otherwise, although that is not to say we do not have our nuances and some differences of emphasis. By and large, however, the Minister doing business abroad on behalf of the State gets the support of the political system at home, which is the way it should be. I remember one European Commissioner saying to me that it was the first time he was in a parliament where the Government was supported by all of the Opposition parties in regard to particular issues, which he said was most unusual. That has its strengths.

Does Mr. Butler consider we should be putting a message out about the need to review the international organisations, in particular their workings and their architecture? He listened to Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan speak earlier in regard to the UN, about which I also spoke yesterday, including how it is structured and how, sadly, it has not been effective enough. Should we be more vigorous and more bullish in regard to putting a message out that we would like to see the international organisations, to which we subscribe and are members of, play a more effective role in many of the huge challenges and difficulties that face people in many countries, particularly where there is hunger, starvation and poverty?

On another issue, in my experience, climate change does not get much address in foreign policy. Is it an issue that should be brought to some extent under our foreign policy?