Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

It is appropriate to state that Deputy Penrose, when in this House, acquitted himself very well and was very attentive. I chaired the session when he was present. He was doing tremendous work on ghost estates and his resignation from his Ministry is a loss to the country. He was a very amiable and approachable Minister of State. I wish well Deputy Penrose and the others in Westmeath, such as Mr. Mick Dollard, who will now be Independents. They will be available for canvassing in the next election campaign.

I second Senator Walsh's call on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, to come to the House to discuss the proposed closure of our embassy in the Holy See. I have received a submission from Mr. David Quinn and others of the Iona Institute outlining the reasons for having an embassy to the Holy See. I note the very constructive manner in which the proposal is made. It states one hundred and seventy-nine countries are linked to the Holy See and 76 - it was 77 - will have embassies there, including Haiti, a very impoverished country. Countries such as Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania and Georgia have full embassies to the Holy See. The Iona Institute made the point that we have embassies in Lesotho, Mozambique and Malawi. They are all worthy locations so there are alternatives, therefore, to closing the embassy to the Holy See. I call on very powerful organisations, such as the Order of the Knights of St. Columbanus, which may have many members in this House or, at least, the other. I see a Senator smiling; I am not sure whether he is a member of the organisation. I was under the impression that Senator Paul Coghlan was a member of the Order of the Knights of St. Columbanus, but I now understand he is not. I do not have the membership list. I have examined the organisation's-----