Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to the House. I congratulate him on assuming the role of chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for this year. It is a great honour for him, for the Government and for Ireland.

On behalf of Deputy Joe O'Reilly, who is the leader of the Irish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - I am the deputy leader of the delegation - I would like to invite the Tánaiste to address the April or June plenary session of the assembly in his capacity as chairman of the OSCE. Ireland will not hold this position again for a number of years, so it is important for us to avail of this opportunity by ensuring the Tánaiste attends one of the assembly's meetings this year.

I would like to speak about the Middle East. I commend the Tánaiste on his courage in visiting Gaza and other parts of the region. I commend him on the support he has given to reaching a two-state solution. The Tánaiste and I were fortunate that the Israelis did not fire on us when we visited Hebron in 2006.