An apology has been received from Deputy Barrett.
We appreciate the attendance of the Taoiseach at today's meeting, his last with the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service and perhaps his last with any Oireachtas committee. I thank him for appointing me to this position and the position of Vice Chairman in the previous Dáil. I thank him for his contribution of 31 marvellous years in public life to date. I wish him well. He leaves a legacy of public service which is second to none. Time will be kind to him in assessing the contribution he has made to public life. He has been involved in many areas, including social partnership, the economy and Europe, but his outstanding achievement is in bringing the people of the island together. That will be a major monument to him. I thank and wish him well in whatever he pursues in the future. I have no doubt he will have much to contribute in whatever field he chooses to follow.