Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Ar eagla go mbeimid ro-dhiúltach ar fad ar maidin, tá moladh dearfach le déanamh agam. I would like to inject a note of positivity into the morning. I note my esteemed colleague, Senator Micheal Mullins, asked us to be a bit more positive, so we will be. However, we will be more positive when we see some more jobs come from the jobs initiative.

I would like to suggest a very positive debate which could link up tourism, natural resources and international relations and make us much more esteemed on a European level. We should ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, to come to the House for a debate on the links between this country and Norway. Norway is a very interesting country. Its population is roughly the same size as Ireland's and there are a large number of similarities. It has a multilingual culture and a very good education system. It has a maritime culture and it gets great use out of its petroleum, gas, fishing, farming, etc. It has a very rural population.