John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

I wholeheartedly welcome the Minister of State who deserves enormous credit for the work he has done and I join in the tributes paid to him, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as well as to the Civil Service. It is quite remarkable, given the size of the country and of the public service, that we can produce a team of such quality. When one sees the resources available to the public services in larger countries, our public service deserves enormous credit.

It was an inspired choice to appoint a Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs who would deal with the constitutional treaty, and Deputy Roche was also an inspired choice for that position.