Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I join Deputies Kenny and McManus in wishing you a good restful summer holiday. As you have advised us many times with your medical hat on, it is important to take a break. I am not sure whether you would recommend such a long break for health reasons. However, I appreciate that is not your choice but maybe the Government had its own reasons for wanting a long break.

I thank the staff and wish them well for the summer. No doubt we will bump into each other during the days and months ahead as the office will remain open and we will meet more staff than Ministers. I hope we will all be safe and well rested when we meet in a full Dáil in September.

I wish Seán Sheils all the best in his retirement and thank him for his many long years of service. I hope that during the summer the Government might reflect on the need to sit down in a spirit of consensus and work on Dáil reform in order that we can agree on what makes for a good working democracy.

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