Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, to the House. This is my first opportunity to congratulate him officially on his appointment. I wish him well in the years ahead in his portfolio.

I thank colleagues on all sides of the House for their contributions. I ask my colleagues on the Committee on Procedure and Privileges to consider extending the time allocated for Private Members' business. We now have many groups in the House and many colleagues wish to contribute to debates and perhaps we should consider extending the time by half an hour. We can examine this in the coming weeks.

I welcome the conversion of the Labour Party on water charges.