Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)

I am grateful for the opportunity to welcome the ambassador and her team. It was a pleasure to chat with her earlier and to hear about Malta and a few things that we have in common in terms of manufacturing and other industry. Tourism is such a big, important issue to both our countries. and also I know from speaking to her that Malta has a population of about 500,000 people, which, as she pointed out, is a zero less than what we have in terms of five million people. The delegation is very welcome here today. It is very important that we mark all European independence days and work alongside our ambassadors for the good of both countries. There are so many direct flights between our countries and so many people go there on holidays. The Leader said that he was in Malta on his holidays in the past two or three years. It is about how we can work together for the good of both countries. I hope the ambassador enjoys her visit.