Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Cabinet well as it goes to Lissadell House for its meeting. As the home of the first woman to be elected to Parliament in Britain or Ireland, it is an inspiring place. It was a source of great inspiration for people like Yeats, who wrote in 1934 that the "real work of legislation" is done in meetings dominated by "old lawyers, old bankers, old businessmen, who ... have begun to govern the world". I hope the Cabinet's deliberations in the west are not influenced by old lawyers, bankers and businessmen.

I echo the support that has been expressed for the chairman of the Committee for Finance and Personnel of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr. Daithí McKay, who has asked for representatives of NAMA to attend that committee's investigation into a £1.3 billion property deal in Northern Ireland. There are fine relations between the two Parliaments now. Last Friday week, we met the new Speaker, Mitchel McLaughlin. The chairman of NAMA, Mr. Frank Daly, is a frequent and valued attender at meetings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. I think this should be a case of hands across the Border.

I wish every success to our great golfers, Paul Dunne and Pádraig Harrington, this afternoon.