Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

It gives me great pleasure to welcome the Tánaiste, a fellow native of east Galway, to the House. Even though he represents a Dublin constituency, people in east Galway regard him as one of their own. He attended Garbally College, as did I, and I wish him well. He is carrying a particularly heavy workload as party leader, as Tánaiste, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and now as the chair of the OSCE. I also welcome the secretary general of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly who is present. I compliment the Tánaiste on his excellent work to date and his success in working with the Taoiseach to repair the image of Ireland abroad. In less than 12 months, they have brought about a situation in which there has been renewed interest in investing in Ireland and in which we rightfully are back on the world stage where we have the potential to punch far above our weight.

The Tánaiste outlined many issues during his contribution and I understand Members have an opportunity to ask some questions. During his recent visit to the Middle East, the Tánaiste spoke of Ireland playing a constructive role in the Middle East peace process. How does he envisage this working in practical terms and what are his plans in this regard? I spoke to the Tánaiste at a recent meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade with regard to the disappointment and offence caused by the closure of the embassy to the Vatican. At the time I asked the Tánaiste whether it would be possible to facilitate housing both the Italian and Vatican embassies at the magnificent Villa Spada. Given the difficult financial position in which we find ourselves, this could be a short-term solution. Has the Tánaiste given further thought to this proposal?

While the Tánaiste has outlined his key priorities for his chairmanship of the OSCE over the next 12 months, what does he hope to have achieved by the end of that period? The Tánaiste made reference to the trade element of his portfolio and this obviously will be of crucial importance if we are to repair our economy. In this context, I welcome the Ireland House concept he is putting in place in various embassies in collaboration with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.