Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I compliment my colleague, Deputy Nolan, on his courtesy and I thank the Minister for his speech. I am always happy to praise his work on this issue. I have a particular interest in this subject and thank the Green Party for tabling the motion. I visited Zambia in 1995 and recently, I had the opportunity to visit Lesotho and South Africa. Several weeks ago, I went to Ethiopia for the elections with Senator Fergal Browne. We were very impressed by what we saw and at the same time we were very troubled by much of what we saw. The election was held on 15 May and I found out today that the results will not be declared until 8 July.

I feel very privileged to be given the opportunity to speak on this motion in the week when the announcement by the G8 states will come to fruition. Bono and Bob Geldof have been referred to and we should praise the work they are doing. My friend and political mentor, Chris Flood, was the Irish envoy to the tsunami disaster and was also the chairman of the Minister's advisory body. I also mention my colleague, Deputy Conor Lenihan, and commend his work in this area.

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