I am not sure if we are witnessing a heave in real time in front of us, but there seems to have been a shift of numbers.

I raise the importance of our economy and funding of public services, and a particularly vital public service referenced in the programme for Government. I do so from the seat in Dáil Éireann that I first pursued and held in 2011. While doing so, I offer some words of acknowledgement and thanks to those who have allowed me to be here and to discharge my duties. I thank the many communities of Dublin Central for their support, kindness and respect over many years and say to them how proud I was to represent them. I thank all of the staff at the finance and budgetary oversight committees and here who make this more than just a place to work. They make it a Parliament that we are proud to serve in. I thank them again for their support and courtesy during my tenure here. I thank my own team, who have worked so closely with me over so many years to allow me to do my work as a Minister and a representative of Dublin Central. I acknowledge that this is a complex and tough week for them, and I thank them for all they have done for me to allow me to do the work I have been trusted and privileged to do.

The particular matter I want to raise is the relationship between our economy and public services. I am confident and certain that whatever progress we have made in recent years in our economy, which I believe is real, will only be built on and further improved by the Tánaiste as Minister for Finance. As he is doing that, I ask that he keep one public service in particular in mind and that is our libraries. I am proud of the investment we have made through our local authorities in recent years in the funding, and opening, of new libraries. They are cradles of decency. They are beacons of light in a world in which things are changing so much. We should be proud that we are in a country that values them, invests in them, that recognises the value of reading and that recognises the value of a place that offers both solitude and community at the same time. I ask the Tánaiste that the reaffirms the support of the Government to continue this investment and in his time, and in the many budgets that await under this Government, that he and his colleagues continue to prioritise that, and prioritise this vital public service upon which so much depends.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for his support in the many committees I have appeared in front of that he has chaired and the relentless but always fair way in which he has discharged his duties. I wish everybody in this Dáil happiness, health and success in representing their constituents.

Thank you, Deputy Donohoe, and I wish you the very best in your new position.

I never quite thought there would be a day when Paschal would ask me to spend more money but it did come on his final day. I really want to thank you, Paschal - Deputy Donohoe - for this question. It is fitting on your last day in Dáil Éireann that you are talking to us about borrowing, but now about borrowing books instead of borrowing money. When I walked into what was your former library yesterday, I thought I had taken a wrong turn and walked into a library, such was the collection of books you have built up there. Thank you for your support for our various library projects around the country during your various Ministries. They include projects in Kinsale, Virginia, Macroom, Trim, Castleblayney and Thomastown, so many of which you visited and all of which your fingerprints have been involved in.

Can you believe it is 5,364 days since you stood and made your maiden speech? That day you talked about diversity, stability, addressing the banking crisis and creating jobs. In the subsequent days before you ever became a Minister, you contributed frequently, thoughtfully, philosophically and with immense knowledge and understanding. You have stayed entirely true to your values over those thousands of days. I cannot help thinking of your time as a Trinity student and the famous quote in the Long Room that states, "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." I think that might be a vision that you share. However, as you address this Chamber for the last time and depart the Dáil, I was trying to think of how best to define you and your great contribution to our country. I turned to one of your favourite authors, and from a book you gave me a couple of weeks ago by Timothy Snyder, in which he states:

A patriot ... wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well - and wishing that it would do better.

Paschal, you have been nothing if not a true patriot.