Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak but am sorry the Minister is not here. However, if he were here we might have descended into a mutual admiration society. During the last Government he was one of the most impressive members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and pioneered the notion of working on an all-party basis. I am sorry to tell Senator Coffey that while other parties supported this, although the Labour Party was reluctant, Fine Gael opposed it. That was a pity because in the long term it is the one way we can deal with this together. It is an issue for the next generation and there is no politics to be gained from it.

Regarding energy security, the brief could not be in better hands. The Minister is committed to dealing with energy and has tremendous understanding of it.