Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Senator Lynch mentioned that she is a former member of Cork County Council and the Southern Regional Assembly and the Committee of the Regions. As I look around at the members here, every one of us is a former local authority member. It shows the connectivity between national and local politics.

The next speaker is Deputy Michael Murphy, also a former member of two local authorities – South Tipperary County Council and Tipperary County Council - and the Southern Regional Assembly and a former head of the Irish delegation to the Committee of the Regions.