Alex White (Labour)

I am not yet finished but I am almost finished. The House has heard very few speeches from the Labour Party benches for the past six hours. Perhaps the Acting Chairman will indulge me in regard to the two or three amendments which we will be pressing.

I would like to finish the point I was making in regard to Dr. Somers. I note RTE has stated that Dr. Somers is to leave his post next month. This was confirmed on the airwaves this evening. Dr. Somers has served the State well. It would be entirely wrong for us to be seeking in any sense to restrict or gag officials such as Dr. Somers, his successors or officials of NAMA who have such an important job to do on behalf of the State.

If the Acting Chairman does a word count on my contribution, she will find it is a lot shorter than many others-----