Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In response to Senator Higgins, last week we moved the statements on foreign affairs. I have no control over the Minister's diary. When I became aware of it, I deliberately informed the House at the beginning of the Order of Business that the Minister could not be here because I know it is an important issue for Members of the House. I did not have to do so. I give the Senator a commitment that we will in the immediate future have further debates with the Tánaiste on foreign affairs. I know where she is coming from. I give her that commitment.

To be fair, it is an important matter raised by the Senator and other Members of the House. I apologise that the Minister cannot be here, but I do not have control over his diary. I am told there are issues requiring his attendance and that is why he cannot be here. However, the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, will be a very fine replacement. He is a Minister of State in the Department on his own merit. I will be happy to have the issue the Senator raised on the ongoing debate on foreign affairs dealt with immediately.

I will not go back over the Taoiseach's remarks last week because we could have a political debate on that until the end of time. To be fair, Senator Higgins has her view on the Taoiseach's comments. Those of us who heard what the Taoiseach said have a different view. We will agree to park that. We will invite him back in again and we will have that discussion. In my contribution I said I thought Senator Ruane made a fine contribution on the issue. It is something we need to discuss in generic terms in terms of political response to how we handle issues.

Senators Mulherin, Norris and Leyden all skirted and touched on the issue of Irish Rail, rural sustainability and the national planning framework, if I can use those terms all together. Senator Mulherin is right in this. The headline today was from a 2016 report.