Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

We have a duty to tell first-time house buyers, young couples with no previous experience, that there is unbelievable value in the marketplace today. It will not last forever. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing. I offer the House the benefit of my experience and my opinion which is all any Member can do. I will remind the House, perhaps in 12 or 18 months, when prices have again increased by 25% or 30%, that they were told this by the Leader of the House on this historic day, the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Senators Hannigan, Ó Domhnaill, Buttimer, Ó Murchú, Butler, Boyle, Ormonde, Bradford, Mullen and indeed all Senators present this morning wish to congratulate everyone who has brought this date into being. Every party played a part and we all acknowledge that. Every person on this island has brought the situation to where it stands today. The former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Senator George Mitchell, President Bill Clinton and the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, made a magnificent effort to bring us to where we are now.

I am really proud of the Taoiseach's achievements. As Senator Ormonde remarked, there are few people who would have worked in the morning on Holy Thursday, come down south for their mother's funeral, gone back and worked through the night. According to the Taoiseach's account, a 22-part shopping list arrived on the table at 5 a.m. on Good Friday morning. When the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, became disappointed at that late stage the Taoiseach said that the items on the list must be addressed. They sat down and three and a half hours later they were addressed. That determination and ability must be recognised. It was done by one of our own. Let us give credit where it is due.