Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Craughwell never ceases to amaze me. He is a firm advocate of the Defence Forces and is nominated by one of the unions, which is his prerogative. There are issues in the Defence Forces being addressed by the Minister of State, Deputy Paul Kehoe. I realise Senator Craughwell is seeking election to other positions, and if he is successful he will have a key, pivotal role regarding our Defence Forces, as he knows well. I commend him on his service in the past. We have had many a fine discussion on that. The Minister of State, to his credit, has been a very fine Minister for Defence.