Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome Ms Nuala Ahern, MEP to the House, as a fellow Leinster person. I thank her not just for all the work she has done for the Leinster constituency, but for the entire country. I wish her every success in her retirement, although I am not sure I should use that word, but rather refer to the next phase of her life. I know Mary Banotti has difficulties with that word. I wish her well in her future endeavours.

On the subject of the 100% debt cancellation agenda, which Bono is pushing at every opportunity, it sounds great and makes sense, but unfortunately in life things that make sense and sound ideal often are not. Are there negative implications in doing that, in terms of economies around the world? Could one make a bad situation worse? I am not an economist, I am just thinking about this. While it may sound sensible to cancel the debt of poor countries one could disadvantage them further. Perhaps Ms Ahern could share her views on that subject with me.

I congratulate her on her work on the nuclear plant at Sellafield. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, who is a constituency colleague of hers, has certainly done a lot of work in that area by highlighting the concerns of people in Leinster and Ireland about the nuclear plant in Sellafield. The recent strike in Sellafield, where the workers literally abandoned their posts and walked off, caused a few sleepless nights for everyone concerned. How will we ever get the Sellafield plant to close, unless we permeate the British Government and convince them to close it down?

I am aware of the German Green Party's success as part of the governing coalition in that country. They have agreed a programme of closing nuclear factories, in fact the first one was closed the other day with the press of a button. The Green Party minister was there for that event.