Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I thought the Cathaoirleach had ruled that we could not mention people by name. I thank Senator O'Toole for his intervention.

As regards the appointment of Tom Mulcahy as Chairman of Aer Lingus, I never asked him what were his politics or if he ever voted. I never knew that. He has turned out to be a marvellous chairman of a company which was in great difficulty and which needed a strong hand and a good mind. He has made a great success of it.

We are all groping towards changes but I strongly refute the notion that because one is a member of any political party, one cannot serve on a State board. That knocks the bottom out of everything. We are trying to encourage people to get involved in politics and have a stake in life but to exclude someone who is a member of a political party is wrong.

Equally, I would say the chairman of the ESB, Tadhg O'Donoghue, is the best chairman of any semi-state company in Europe. If he were still in his job——