I thank the members of the committee for responding to the call at short notice. The business of the meeting is to elect a Chairman to replace the former Chairman who is now a Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. I call for nominations.
Election of Chairman.
I propose Deputy Brendan Kenneally.
I second that proposal.
Are there any other nominations? If Deputy Kenneally is willing to take this office I congratulate him and wish him all the best during his tenure. I invite Deputy Kenneally to take the Chair.
Deputy Brendan Kenneally took the Chair.
I thank the Vice Chairman for starting proceedings, the clerk and the secretariat for arranging this meeting speedily and the members of the committee for their unanimous support. I hope we continue to work together as well during the committee's deliberations as we have this morning. I have met with the clerk and I am aware of the work that the committee does and how busy it is. I look forward to working with it in the coming months and years. If there are any issues that members wish to raise please feel free to do so at any stage. I call Deputy Charles Flanagan.
I wish the Chairman well and congratulate him on his appointment to the Chair of this busy committee. The Chairman will have the co-operation of the Fine Gael Party. We wish him well and look forward to working with him.
On behalf of the Labour Party I congratulate the Chairman on his elevation to this position. I know he has the capability to do a very good job, although he has probably taken on the toughest Chair of all the committees. On behalf of the Labour Party I say the Chairman will have our full co-operation and we wish him all the best.
Likewise I congratulate the Chairman. I have one request. I asked the previous Chairman to invite Lieutenant General Pat Nash, who is in charge of the Defence Forces in Chad, to the committee. I wish the Chairman all the best. I have known him for a long time since I first joined the House and I have always found him to be fair and approachable at all times. I am confident he will continue this policy.
Unlike Mr. Barack Obama the supporting "Vice" role is not available, but I am glad to be able to fill that role. I look forward to working closely with the Chairman as I did with his predecessor.
On behalf of my Fianna Fáil colleagues who cannot be here I congratulate the Chairman on his appointment, which is well deserved. The Chairman comes from a long line of politicians with three generations of service to the country. His late father was a Member of the House and the Chairman is a former Lord Mayor of Waterford. We congratulate him and thank him for his service, not just in Parliament, but as a member of a Government party too. We look forward to working with both the Chairman and Vice Chairman, Deputy McGinley, to ensure everything goes well in the committee, as we believe it will be very busy.
I wish the new Chairman well as an Independent Member of the Oireachtas. I look forward to working closely——
The Deputy is no longer independent.
I retain my independence. I wish the Chairman well. The work of the committee is difficult and the committee is busy, but I am confident he will be able to do the job and I wish him good luck for the future.
I thank the Deputies who proposed and seconded my election to the Chair and I thank the committee members for attending at such short notice.
The joint committee adjourned at 12.40 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 17 June 2008.