Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I wish to share time with Deputy Stagg.

I welcome the last-minute conversion of the Government parties to the necessity of running these two by-elections now. I have no idea what all the fuss was about or why such bogus excuses were advanced for not running the elections. I heard the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, on radio today. He reminded me of the corncrake in that I could hear him clearly but did not know what side of the argument he was on.

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