We will deal with the 2008 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Vote 36 — Defence; Vote 37 — Army Pensions; and chapter 28, mission to Chad. Before continuing I pay tribute to Mr. Michael Somers, who has indicated that he is retiring.
Mr. John Buckley (An tArd Reachtaire Cúntas agus Ciste) called and examined.
Coincidentally, Mr. Somers was Secretary General of the Department of Defence at one stage. That did not do his career any harm. I put on record our appreciation of the work done by Mr. Somers in recent years. He has been a very effective and very courageous public official and was very clear and forthright in his contributions whenever we met him in this committee. We wish Mr. Somers the very best for his retirement, wherever it may take him.
I hope he will have a lot more to offer in the years ahead and that the country will continue to be able to avail of his vast experience. He has been a credit to the entire public service.
I would like to be associated with those remarks. At a time when our national debt was out of control it was a great innovative idea of a former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, to think up the idea of the National Treasury Management Agency. It controlled our debt and put it into a proper and efficient manner. Within a few months of taking office, Mr. Somers had matters under control and until now we have not looked back at any issues arising from our national borrowings. We reached a peak of £32 billion at that time, in either punts or sterling, which was very frightening for a small economy like Ireland. We have just come to the eve of another problem now, with the crisis in the economy. Mr. Michael Somers will be much missed in the financial world. He has given great leadership and leaves a wealth of information after him. His like will be hard to find and replace.
I concur with the previous speakers and wish Mr. Somers well in his retirement.
