Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on a great initiative to showcase the best of Ireland. We are fairly good at talking about Ireland as we are great for chatting and sharing. The old meitheal system in Ireland is coming to the fore with The Gathering. Therefore, with The Gathering we are going back to our roots and showing what is best about Ireland and the connections at home and abroad. People are being parochial. In south Dublin it is Meet to Compete where 25 organisations from all over the world are coming to play games at the Tallaght stadium and the National Basketball Arena.

I congratulate Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú as Comaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann has had a gathering for many years. Another organisation that has showcased Ireland and Irish culture all over the world for many years is Irish dancing and the Irish dancing world championships which have been held in Ireland. Those taking part have visited almost every country in Europe. For my daughter, Irish dancing was a way of seeing Europe when she was young. The Irish dancing agencies are participating in The Gathering at the Bastable Warren School of Irish Dancing in Rathfarnham.

I have got permission today for the holding of an event on renewable energy at Dublin Castle. Members of Parliament from every European Union country get together with the EUFORES, usually in Brussels, but they reach out sometimes. I told the organisers last year about The Gathering and said it would be a great idea if, as part of it, we could bring the event to Ireland.

It has been agreed by all parliaments in the European Union. A previous speaker spoke about the brand. It is difficult and I found I had to jump through many hoops. The Department of the Taoiseach has laid down criteria on the use of the brand. We had to ensure that this conference of parliamentarians met the criteria to use the brand. It has now been sanctioned as an associate event of the EU. I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, who got Fáilte Ireland to work with me on this. I would not have been able to do it without Fáilte Ireland and the support I got from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The main organiser will be coming to Dublin and he has asked me to organise a high-level group to meet him. I want to get together a group at the end of February and so I will contact the Minister's office or the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Ring. The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, will be the main speaker at the conference, the theme of which is renewable energy and energy efficiency. We will have chairpersons of all the energy committees and energy spokespersons from every party here. It will be held in the Seanad Chamber, organised by Senator Cummins and me. The dinner will be held here. We need help to get it organised because it is a Seanad event. We need to get the people in power to help us out. Senator Cummins and I have been working on it since last July but we need somebody to take hold of it from the ministerial aspect and the Minister might do that for us.