Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I congratulate the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, on his new position as managing director of the World Bank. It is testament to the standard he brought to his political roles as public expenditure Minister, finance Minister and Minister for transport. He is one of those giants of politicians who did his business right, made hard decisions, said "No" quicker in many ways than he said "Yes" but always had the public interest at heart. The fact his appointment has been welcomed across the board is testament to the skills and qualities we benefited from. A lot of people are sorry to see him go, as am I, but I am still very glad that he gave a commitment to politics for 20 years. Politics is the better for that commitment.

I support Senators Flynn and Nelson Murray on the call for a debate on COPD. It is very important. There are a lot of people suffering, some in silence. Resources need to be deployed in a more targeted way. I would welcome that.

I agree with Senator Craughwell about the taxi industry. We need a review at this stage, particularly regarding knowledge of the city of Dublin, for example. More often than not, taxi drivers use Google Maps, which is not necessarily the best way of understanding the city. There is a lot of work that can be done in that area. It is time for a review. I recall I was working in Dublin - I was not a Member of the House at the time - when deregulation happened. It was a godsend because you could not get a taxi at all any night of the week before deregulation. Within six months, that situation had changed but it has probably gone in the other direction now. A debate and a review would be welcome.