Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge the comments of Senators McCarthy, Walsh and Keaveney who played a major role in the mass for deceased Members. We have lost five Members in the lifetime of this Dáil and Seanad - the late Deputies Seamus Brennan and Tony Gregory and three colleagues in this House, Tony Kett, Peter Callanan and Kieran Phelan. I congratulate all those who brought us together this morning. It was lovely to be present at the mass to remember those who had made such a great contribution and had been dear colleagues of ours.

Senators Fitzgerald, O'Toole, McCarthy, Boyle, Healy Eames, Mullen, Coghlan, Keaveney, Ó Murchú, Harris, Buttimer, Butler, Norris, O'Sullivan, Hanafin, Cannon, Walsh, O'Donovan, MacSharry, Bradford, Dearey, Quinn and Mooney welcomed the opportunity we will have from 4 p.m to debate the national recovery plan which will be published at 2.30 p.m. It will cover the period 2011 to 2014 and the debate will be open-ended. It will continue for as long as Members are offering to speak and I invite every Member to make a contribution on this most important plan.

It is 12 days to the budget. It is a very short period of time. We will know the exact Exchequer returns for November, which are crucial. I am sure the Opposition will agree that accuracy regarding the figures, regardless of how bad they may be, is of huge importance, particularly at this time. I look forward to having that debate in the House.

In response to Senators Keaveney, Norris and Butler, if I had a choice to become a Minister right now it would have to be Minister for energy. In terms of the future of Ireland, if we look back over the past 50 years, the free transport-----