Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Kind of. They say the only thing worse than people talking about you is people not talking about you and I take that view on it. I welcome the Tánaiste back and can see that he is jet-lagged. I am not sure about the sunstroke Deputy Howlin or Deputy Barry was suggesting.

The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference is to be convened on 25 July. I welcome that fact. As the Tánaiste knows, we have been calling since February for this conference to be convened. It is clear that the focus of the conference now needs to be the outstanding issues that have prevented the re-establishment of the power-sharing institutions in the North, namely, marriage equality, Acht na Gaeilge and legacy issues. The conference will be a lost opportunity if it proves to only be a one-day wonder or a delaying device to do nothing. I ask the Tánaiste to shed some light on what will be the conference's agenda. What items does he foresee it dealing with and will the Government agree to statements in the Dáil next week on the North in advance of the convening of the intergovernmental conference?

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