Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I begin by way of a confession. Next August it will be 25 years since I was elected to this House and this is the first time I have been here on the last day before the summer recess. That may be a comment on either my indolence or my electoral resilience but I managed to get out of here early and be re-elected over that period.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. He is a difficult man with whom to have a row, which is probably a fine quality for one in the Chair.

The occasional moments of disorder on my side were part of the ups and downs of life and were not or could not be personal because it is not possible to have that sort of row with the Cathaoirleach. I thank him for his fairness. We are all aware of his determination to be fair and balanced which scarcely needs be mentioned it is so clear. This was not always the case because he had predecessors with whom it was easy to have rows. This Cathaoirleach recognises that a sense of fairness is an important part of our constitutional order which he wants to uphold.

Nobody could overestimate the amount of work the staff of the House do under extraordinary circumstances within limited timeframes. I do not think many of those who talk about delivery of service in other parts of the world would emulate the quality of service, efficiency and speed of delivery of the Clerk, the Clerk Assistant and rest of the staff of the House.

I support Senator O'Toole's comments on the quality of work of those who record our proceedings. They do their almost invisible jobs with a level of precision and efficiency that is of great assistance to all of us and of great credit to them. I would like to be associated with the praise in that regard.

It is difficult to have a real row with the Leader, partly because she is a very reasonable woman and partly because she always charms one into submission if she cannot do it any other way. Her capacity to charm us all is complemented by the extraordinary qualities of her assistant, Mr. Eamonn McCormack. Senator O'Rourke is the first Leader I can recall who has had an identified and identifiable assistant around the place. He is a significant asset to the Leader and the House.