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

In the interests of fairness, and for the record, I am conscious of the fact that people get very emotive about some of these subjects, and I wish to make a couple of points.

First, although I was not here, the debate was opened by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who spoke for 20 minutes, so he was here and he did participate.

Second, there is a long-standing tradition in the House of Members understanding when a Cabinet Minister has to depart the House to take part in a Cabinet meeting.

Third, comments were made about somebody who is no longer in our midst - I am sure we all miss him very much - the former Minister, Mr. Ross. I am sure there was no intention to imply any mal-intent on his part when he appointed whoever he appointed to the Dublin Airport Authority.

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