Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am obliged to bring matters to a conclusion in accordance with the current Covid restrictions, hopefully for the last time. I thank the Minister, Deputy Coveney, on behalf of the committee for meeting us here and for dealing with members' questions in the manner as dealt. I thank the officials for being present, namely, Ms Hyland and Mr. Burgess.

On behalf of the committee and on my own behalf, I want to wish the Secretary General, Mr. Burgess, well. This is the last meeting of the foreign affairs committee that he will attend in his capacity as Secretary General. Dare I say, this is the last meeting he will attend in his capacity as Secretary General because I think he steps down this evening. I thank him for his leadership and stewardship in the Department as Secretary General over the past seven and half years. He is stepping aside as Secretary General but he will continue in the Department of Foreign Affairs as the ambassador to France and we wish him well in that regard.

I thank members for their contributions and for the process that we deployed. My two takeaways from the meeting are that the Minister has acknowledged, as he did shortly after the controversy, that some mistakes were made and that the process is somewhat less than satisfactory. He acknowledged here this afternoon that he is considering a revised process and that this revised process would involve reference to this committee. We would agree that there should be a role for this committee in the context of such appointments, that is, in regard to special envoys.

I am sure that Senator Craughwell did not mean to cast any adverse aspersions or otherwise on the appointment of ambassadors. I think it was regrettable that towards the end of the meeting, that implication was made. I am sure it was not meant and I see Senator Craughwell indicating that he agrees with me on that point.

The second takeaway, as well as the process, is the issue of the communication and the timelines. I acknowledge what the Secretary General, Mr. Burgess, said about the Department wishing to provide information rather than in any way hinder or restrict the provision of information. There is some more work to do in that regard either directly under FOI requests or, equally as important, by requests from members of this committee through our channels as the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence. There are some documents and records that we are anxious to see. I acknowledge the documents and papers already furnished in that regard and I thank officials for the briefing.

With that, I will bring matters to a conclusion. We trust that the Minister will be in a position to join us for a meeting in respect of the situation in Kabul and Afghanistan at the earliest opportunity as soon as his diary permits. We will be very anxious to accommodate him for such an engagement. Since our meeting started I have received an apology from Senator Ó Donnghaile.