Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle) | Oireachtas source

I have always had problems with this gown. Those of you who were here in 2016 will remember that it had been worn by Seán Barrett so it was a little on the long side for me. In the aftermath of the counting of the votes, it miraculously got shortened. The Ceann Comhairle's gown, by the way, was the subject of a freedom of information request during the course of the year where somebody wanted to know what it had cost and how much its dry-cleaning cost, and we discovered it was here so long that nobody knew what it had cost and it had never been dry-cleaned. I assure the House it has been cleaned and it is now being reused.

First, I commiserate with my good friend, Deputy Denis Naughten. He is a parliamentarian of very considerable standing. He has done great work for the country and for his constituency, and it was an honour to compete with him.

I thank each and every one of you - those who voted for me and those who did not, and the two who decided that they would not vote for either of us. Let us hope I can win them over in the period that lies ahead.

We are in a challenging position but this Parliament has a responsibility. This Dáil must work together, but we must work carefully, intelligently and as urgently as possible, because the problems that remain to be confronted are substantial. We have the ability, working together, to solve those problems. Have we not shown today that we can be very decisive indeed when we put our minds to it? Let us be decisive in the period ahead and let us decide to work together in the interests of the people who sent us here.

This afternoon, realising the importance of inter-parliamentary relations, I will write to Mr. Alex Maskey, the Speaker in the Northern Assembly, and to the Speaker of the House of Commons asking for the earliest possible opportunity to meet so that we can consider how on this island we can strengthen inter-party relations and how the east-west relations between our parliaments can be strengthened as they most undoubtedly need to be in the aftermath of Brexit.

I also ask for the approval of the House at this very early stage to re-establish the all-party Business Committee. It is written into Standing Orders. It simply needs to be populated. It is set up and structured in such a way as to give representation to all the distinct groups in this House. If we could get the Business Committee up and running it could start some meaningful work while the challenging job of Government formation continues. I first ask if Deputies will approve us moving to establish the Business Committee to undertake those works. Is that agreed? Agreed.

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