Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak. I am pleased to see in the House my colleague, Mr. Ó Neachtáin, MEP, who comes from what is now being somewhat strangely referred to as "the west". I apologise for not being in the House when Mr. Ó Neachtáin arrived. I was attending a meeting of the National Forum for Europe, which I know Mr. Ó Neachtáin would also have been attending but for his commitment in the Seanad.

I endorse what I heard outside the Chamber and since I entered. I have no doubt that the hard work Mr. Ó Neachtáin has been doing will bring returns. That work is not necessarily exclusively in the public eye, but among potential voters and indeed within the Fianna Fáil party, if I may make that political point following the political point made by my colleague, Senator Mansergh. I have no doubt that Fianna Fáil initially, and then hopefully the wider electorate, will respond positively to the very significant contributions, especially in the fisheries area, made by Mr. Ó Neachtáin since he became an MEP. The fisheries area has no doubt been touched on. It was one where in effect, Mr. Ó Neachtáin singlehandedly fought the Irish case very well. Those of us who know him would not have been surprised at the manner in which he was able to network in that area as a result of his experience as a member of the Committee of the Regions.