It has been a very sad few days for Fine Gael, which like most political parties in this country is a family or tribe, as such, and John was our leader for a very long time so there is a huge tinge of sadness there. When I look at John Bruton, I look at a man who gave definition to politics, to Fine Gael and to his role as a leader and Taoiseach. He was absolutely unequivocal in his opposition to the IRA and to terrorism. That steadfastness on that issue, together with other Fine Gael people like Paddy Cooney, was …

It is timely that Senator Cummins finished as a member of the labour panel because we have a former member of the labour panel here with us tonight, namely, of former Senator Don Lydon, who served as a Member of this House between 1987 and 2007. It is a timely debate as well because he served as the Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson. It is great to have him back. If any of us have the length of career he did, we will be doing quite well. Senator McDowell will speak next but I would like to emulate former Senator Lyd…

The Minister of State, without interruption.

Senator Clonan, are you pressing amendment No. 1?

I would like to be associated with the comments made by my colleagues on the death of John Connor. John served for a long time as a Member of Dáil Éireann and of Seanad Éireann. Indeed, when Longford was in the same constituency as Roscommon, there were some very close battles between him and the late Louis Belton. On each occasion, though, where either Louis or John lost their Dáil seat, they managed to return to this much more august Chamber in which the standard of the debate is naturally higher. One of the reas…

That was excellent timing. I thank the Cathaoirleach for letting me in at the very last minute. I do not want to anticipate what I hope to say later in the Second Stage debate on the Limerick mayor. It is very specific to Limerick, however. Therefore, I just want to talk about local government in general and the concept of mayors. First, they are a very good idea. Second, every county in Ireland and every local authority should have a directly elected mayor. That is a very good thing because where there are directl…

The debate later today is specifically about Limerick. While I will chat about that, that is Limerick based. What I would actually like a debate about is the concept of directly elected mayors for every local authority. The idea of having to have referendums for them does not necessarily work because as we see with referendums, and as we may see with the referendums coming in March, people are mainly voting on them based on different reasons and not the actual substantive issues. Therefore, I do not think referendu…

As I am following Senator Byrne and the Minister of State, both of whom are from the city where this will be implemented, I make my comments with that in mind. The concept of directly elected mayors is an excellent one. It is the way forward for local government. My vision for local government would be to see a directly elected mayor for every local authority, for example, Louth, Donegal and Meath county councils. My vision for Dublin would be to put the four local authorities aside and have a directly elected mayo…

I would like to follow up on the call by Senator Warfield for a debate on emigration. The Senator and I are of a similar age. When we were maybe 18 or 19, people were emigrating from this country in their droves. They were doing that because there was no employment in this country. There were physically no jobs in this country. Today in Ireland, we are at full employment. People emigrate for a variety of reasons. With all due respect to Senator Warfield, he outlined that housing was one of the biggest reasons peopl…

That was a very powerful contribution to follow and I commend Senator Clonan on it. I agree wholeheartedly with his words. Not to move on to more minor matters but I wish Tom Hickey, the deputy head usher of the Houses, all the best in retirement after 22 years of service in Leinster House. Tom is someone we all know very well. He is an excellent representative for the Oireachtas, whether with visitors to the Houses or helping Members, staff members and the wider Leinster House community. Tom has also been heavily …

I am asking for some guidance really. I have come to this debate late. I make no bones towards my Fianna Fáil colleagues, who can do what they wish. What we are witnessing now is so well choreographed that it is like watching Swan Lake or some other ballet. It is so well done.

If this debate is going to run until 6 p.m. and if Fianna Fáil Members insist on running it out and wasting the time of Members and the Minister, how do we, as a House, decide to sit past 6 p.m.? I am happy to sit here all night until we get this done.

This is what we are elected to do.

I mean this in the most respectful way to my Fianna Fáil colleagues. If they wish to continue on with this, it is absolutely fine. I will continue on with this all night. I will listen to point after point all night. I have no problem sitting here until 12 midnight. How can we, as a House, sit past 6 p.m.? That is what I am asking.

Can we get clarification on this?

On whether it is the Leader or the Chief Whip, or both.

The only way this can be extended, and for us to sit past 6 p.m., is if the Leader of the House, Senator Chambers, who has left the room, proposes to sit past 6 p.m.

We are all willing to sit here after 6 p.m. I assume other Members are.

The Minister is as well.

This is our full-time job. We are professional politicians. Let us sit all night to get the business of today done.