I welcome to the House the Russian delegation from the State Duma, who are most welcome to our country. I had the good fortune to meet you earlier today and I took particular note that we are having a debate about local authority representatives and their salaries and expenses. One of these members of the Duma travels through eight time zones to get to work so I hope your remuneration is at least on par, if not better, than that of the councillors here. I hope you have a very enjoyable visit to our country. You are more than welcome. I look forward to more enhanced and developed good relations between Irish public representatives and the people of Russia, particularly their representatives. I hope you are enjoying your stay and come more frequently to our lovely country.
Visit of Russian Delegation
As this is the 100th anniversary of the First Dáil, I thank Russia for being the first country to formally recognise the Irish Republic all those years ago.