The first item is the election of a Vice-Chairman. As members will be aware, Senator Finucane is relinquishing his role as Vice-Chairman of the joint committee and I should like to place on record my appreciation for the work he has done for this committee and to express my thanks to him. He has been a gentleman to deal with and was never in any way partisan in his dealings with any member of the committee. He filled in for me at a crucial part of the year and did much more than was expected of him. He will be missed as Vice-Chairman. I am not sure if he is staying on the committee.
Election of Vice-Chairman.
I thank the Chairman for his good wishes. I am to be Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Constitution and I will be proposing that Deputy Perry replaces me. As regards the communications and natural resources element of the brief, I will be attending here but my colleague, Senator McHugh, shall attend as regards the marine side of the portfolio. He has a particular interest in this area, as he is from County Donegal.
I join with the Chairman in expressing deep appreciation for Deputy Finuance's strong interest and role in the affairs of the committee. On a number of occasions when the Chairman was ill, he chaired the committee with great efficiency and integrity. We will miss him in that role.
I am glad to hear the committee is not to lose Deputy Finucane completely and that he will be present, in particular for discussions on wind energy and similar matters in which he has a keen interest. It is good that the former Vice-Chairman is staying on in that regard. He did an excellent job on any occasion he had to chair the committee.
I wish Senator Finucane the very best and acknowledge the tremendous work he has done on this committee. He is moving to another committee of which I am a member, which will be more interesting and challenging for him. We will be seeing much of each other and I am aware of his expertise, about which I will say little.
We have a vacancy for Vice-Chairman. Standing Order 88(2) provides that every committee shall elect one of its members to be Vice-Chairman. I welcome Deputy Perry of Fine Gael to the committee and I will now take nominations.
I formally nominate Deputy Perry.
I formally second Deputy Perry.
Are there any other nominations? As there are no other nominations, I declare Deputy Perry elected Vice-Chairman of the committee. I look forward to working with Deputy Perry and congratulate him on his election.
I thank the Chairman. I am very pleased to join this committee. I believe it has done a great deal of work over the last two and a half years. I thank my proposer, Senator Finucane, and seconder, Deputy Durkan. I look forward to my time on the committee and to continuing the work that my predecessor and the Chairman have done. I have no doubt that it will be a learning curve in the initial stages but I am confident I shall have a contribution to make in time.
I thank Deputy Perry. This has been a highly productive committee over the last two years. Will members please excuse me for the coughing. I believe it is because I did not wear my overcoat last night. I was out late, but I will not say where.