Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I extend a very warm welcome to the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, who has made history by being the first woman appointed to the office of Minister for Agriculture and Food in the history of the State. It is a well-deserved appointment. That a female Minister has been appointed in this particular field is the first real recognition that half of those who have worked the land have been women. Britain has never had a female Minister for agriculture. Deputy Coughlan's appointment is welcome not just because she is a woman but because she has the capacity to make a wonderful Minister for Agriculture and Food. I expressed to the president of the IFA the hope that his organisation will get on very well with the Minister and he replied, "We will see".