Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael)

-----but I hope that if it closes it will be only a temporary arrangement, given this country's links there. The Vatican is one of the oldest states in Europe and has made a great contribution to European civilisation including what it did for the preservation of democracy in France and Italy after the Second World War. If we cannot fund the Villa Spada we could have a more modest embassy. It is not the size of the embassy that counts but the presence of our mission to the Vatican.