Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

This is a confession. I have not said this before publicly. I can only say I was led astray as a misguided youth. However, I had a great experience. In the period between the general election and the first sitting of this Dáil I travelled to Westminster where I met some Conservative Members of Parliament, one of whom was Mr. Brooks Newmark. As a result of that meeting there was a bilateral meeting between the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the UK Minister with responsibility for small and medium enterprises. Because our parliamentary systems are so similar, there was a sharing of ideas. This is a good example of how parliamentarians in our two countries can work together.

In January another Conservative MP, Mr. Ben Gummer, introduced an idea about tax transparency in the British system. I saw this and got in touch with him. We started to work together and in March I was able to introduce the Tax Transparency Bill 2012. While that Bill is different from the work he is doing, it would not have come about without his initial idea and help. This is another positive example of the work done between our Parliaments and the things we share. There are connections outside the assembly which also does very good work.

There is a socialising element to the plenary sessions, as Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned. I was not included, unfortunately. The next time the plenary session is held here it might be an idea to invite Members of the Oireachtas to some of the social events in order that we can make these connections. One never knows what they might lead to in the future.

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