Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

Could the public and the media, in particular, pay attention to the work of the parliamentary committees of the Council of Europe and show respect to the members of all domestic parties who make a contribution, which is widely sought and welcomed by the Council's institutions, rather than engaging in negative debates about the costs of flights and hotels? Mr. Duffy, who apart from being a public service broadcaster, is also a newspaper columnist, is more interested in expenses than the work done by MEPs and the contribution Ireland makes to the development of European institutions and, especially, the Council of Europe, which is often confused with the European Parliament.

Members have received many documents from the various committees of the Council of Europe. They provide good examples of how the council's work can be implemented domestically and throughout member states. I thank the Minister of State for introducing the legislation because it might lead to improved awareness of the work of the Council of Europe, the activities of its political, legal and social affairs committees and the contribution it has made to the evolving stability in Europe.

The council was established so that there would be no more wars in Europe. We are on the brink of another outbreak of hostilities in the emerging democracies and we have a responsibility to use our political skills and the financial resources available to institutions such as the development bank to make a meaningful and positive contribution at the Council of Europe. I wish the Minister of State well in the task before him. He should not suffer the same fate as I did for my work in 1992.