Is that agreed? Agreed.

Míle buíochas.

We wish the Senator well with his new arrival and hope that he will have no sleepless nights from now on.

I call the iar-Chathaoirleach, Senator Burke.

Go raibh maith agat, Senator. Of course, he was a wonderful Whip in that Government at the time. As we have reached the end of this segment of the proceedings, I welcome to the Gallery a school group. They are very welcome on this historic day and I thank them for being here. I neglected to say earlier that we should remember our good friend, the former Senator Paul Coghlan, who is at home. We wish him well. I also thank Deirdre Chambers from the Whip’s office, who is sitting in the Gallery, for all her work. I cal…

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I apologise to Senator Eugene Murphy, who had to leave the House earlier. As a result, I did not get to him. I call the Senator now.

Point noted.

That round of applause and standing ovation are an illustration of the esteem with which Senator Joe O’Reilly is held by all of us.

I now call on the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, to make his declaration in accordance with Standing Order 6A. A Leas-Chathaoirligh, comhghairdeas.

I congratulate the Leas-Chathaoirleach on his election and invite him to say a few words.

I look forward to working in tandem with the Leas-Chathaoirleach in getting further elevation for the Seanad in 2023. Tá mé beagnach críochnaithe; tá cúpla focal orm. On Members' behalf, I thank Ms Áine McMahon from the communications unit in Leinster House for making today possible. Gabhaim buíochas léi. I thank John, the photographer. I thank the Seanad-----

I am not finished yet. Nílim críochnaithe fós.

I thank the Seanad Office team for their tremendous work during the course of this year and in particular this week. On Senator Keogan's and all our behalf, I thank Ms Aisling Harte, who has been an ever-present member in the Cathaoirleach's office during my time in this House. I look forward to working with Aisling. I have known her nearly since I was a little boy because I was here so often before I became a Member. I thank everybody in our parliamentary community from the ushers here today to the people in front…

I join Senator Davitt in offering our deepest sympathies to the family of the soldier who was killed in Lebanon last night. I offer support to the members of the Defence Forces. Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam dílis. This is a very technical Bill at one level. It is routine, as the Minister of State has said. However, Senator Gavan is right-----

It is a rare moment.

I will pick up on the point Senator Gavan made about the M20 motorway. It is important in the overarching transport infrastructure budget to recognise that the second and third cities of our country are not connected by motorway. That makes no sense from an economic and social point of view. Last Sunday, as people returned to Cork from the Munster match in Limerick following a disappointing result, they were frustrated to find that the traffic in Charleville and Buttevant was back to the old days. Those of us who r…

The Minister of State has been a member of a local authority. He understands where I am going with this point. We should work collectively to ensure we do not have a brain drain of councillors at the next local elections. We should put scaffolding around them-----

-----to support their work. This will benefit their local communities and enhance the delivery of services by councils at local level. I will conclude by wishing the Minister of State well on Saturday in the Government reshuffle. I have always found him to be an excellent Minister of State, in-----

-----particular in the whole area of cybersecurity. He has been a breath of fresh air in his information, in his knowledge and in his capacity to deliver and to bring people with him. I wish him well.