James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also offer my best wishes to Martin McGuinness, a man I always found to be affable. He clearly was very able and served his community extremely well. We all hope he will recover soon.

I agree with Senator Paddy Burke on people walking and cycling along main roads. I do not necessarily want to ban cyclists from using national routes, but we need to promote safer ways for people to travel. We also want to encourage them to exercise to tackle the national obesity problem. There are opportunities all over the country to provide safe cycleways and paths. Parents should be able to bring their children out safely, but there are many roads in north County Dublin on which parents could not possibly allow their kids to cycle, but there is a wonderful opportunity in Fingal to do so on an excellent facility along the coastal route from Portmarnock and Malahide to Rush, Skerries and Balbriggan.

I wish to address an issue that was raised by the Leader of the Opposition. I congratulate members of An Garda Síochána on their great work in breaking up the ring which clearly had an international component, the members of which were smuggling illegals into the country. The actions of the few in no way reflect the excellent work done by the thousands of people who work in Dublin Airport and for Aer Lingus.

Brexit was mentioned. In that context, I commend the Minister for Health for trying to bring the European Medicines Agency to Ireland. If those involved would find the journey to Carrick-on-Shannon a little long, they could always stay in Fingal where the Dublin Airport Authority has great plans to develop its lands as a business park. One small example of the opportunities Brexit could bring involves Kelloggs which has an operation in Swords where it employs 300 people. It sells its product worldwide, including into the European Union, as well as to South Africa, Australia and elsewhere. On a positive note, while I know that people are concerned about Brexit, we must also keep looking at the opportunities that may be available to us.

I again congratulate An Garda Síochána on its great work.