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

I must say, Senator Craughwell, there are two distinctly different processes in the matter of the appointment from within the Civil Service of an ambassador and the appointment of a special envoy, which is precisely the reason that this committee has been engaged in this issue since early August. I do not think it is fair, at this stage of our debate, that there should be an attempt on the part of a member of this committee to put both appointments in the one basket, because they are separate and different.