Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)

Before I ask the Deputy Leader to outline the Order of Business, I welcome the German ambassador to Ireland. He is accompanied by Deputy Timmins, who is the convenor of the Irish-German friendship group. On 3 October 1990, 35 years ago, Germany achieved reunification after a long period of division and began a successful process or reintegration. Ireland is proud of the part it played as President of the European Council in chairing the pivotal meeting in Dublin that led to pan-European support for German reunification. Ireland's upcoming Presidency of the European Union offers us an excellent opportunity to further strengthen this bond in the context of we can working to achieve a stronger European Union, one that advocates for peace, democracy and solidarity in an increasingly challenging world.

Ireland and Germany have a strong bilateral relationship, one which was strengthened in the aftermath of Brexit, but its origin goes back much further to St. Kilian, who left Ireland along with other monks and arrived in Germany in the seventh century and established enduring links between our two countries. An example of this legacy is the German school, St. Kilian's, which was established in Dublin in 1952. In fact, German is the second most popular foreign language at universities here and the third most popular in schools. We also share strong economic links with Germany, which is Ireland's second largest export destination. Many German companies operate in Ireland. This year, Siemens is celebrating 100 years in Ireland. Its time in Ireland began with the construction of the Shannon hydroelectric scheme at Ardnacrusha.

We look forward to continuing to build on these economic and cultural ties and in working together to build a better Europe. I wish the ambassador and all of the people in Germany a very happy German unity day. The ambassador is very welcome. It was lovely to meet him earlier. Will the Deputy Leader to outline the Order of Business for today?