Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the sentiments of the previous Senators on those who contested the election and extend every good wish to the successful and unsuccessful candidates, who perform a major function in our democracy.

I welcome the Leader's statement that the debate on the State Airports (Shannon Group) Bill 2014 will be adjourned and not completed. A new book was published just today on low-cost airlines and their relationship with airports. The report from the Commission for Aviation Regulation on terminal 2 in Dublin Airport, the cost overruns and their implications for the charges, is due to be published on Thursday and the regulator also will step down on Friday. Consequently, a lot of events associated with aviation are happening and I am glad the debate will be extended to facilitate this.

In addition, I wish to thank personally - and presumably on behalf of the House - the Tánaiste, who stepped down yesterday. By coincidence, I was watching the presentation of the results on BBC Northern Ireland when Mr. Mike Nesbitt, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, paid a most fulsome tribute to the Tánaiste and his work in Anglo-Irish relations. While Members sometimes were critical of him for not being in the country, that was his portfolio, namely, foreign affairs. Mr. Nesbitt said his address to the British-Irish Association in Cambridge last September was most inspiring and stimulating. The Tánaiste invited Mr. Nesbitt and Ulster Unionists to attend in Dublin when the centenary of the Easter 1916 Rising was being commemorated and Mr. Nesbitt said on that programme that he valued that invitation immensely. Moreover, he stated that in the same spirit, he would extend an invitation to President Higgins to visit Stormont. I believe the Tánaiste's record in Anglo-Irish relations was paid a very warm tribute on that occasion by the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. I add to this the Tánaiste's courtesy to this House and when Members met him around the corridors of Leinster House and so on. One wishes the Tánaiste well in his future career.