Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I would like to congratulate you formally on your election as Ceann Comhairle and to assure you of the co-operation of the Government in the performance of your duties in the House and in your capacity as chairman of the Oireachtas commission. You will be an excellent Ceann Comhairle. It is a very proud day for yourself, your family, your many supporters and all of your colleagues, both parliamentary and locally in the Louth constituency.

As we pass to a new Ceann Comhairle, I want to commend, if I may, Deputy John O'Donoghue on his work as Ceann Comhairle. Today, he displayed in the substance of what he had to say much upon which this House must and should reflect.

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