I want to say in respect of the appearance here today by the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, that he stayed in his seat as a courtesy to the House. It was not the case that he was sent in to deal with a matter on which he had no expertise. Senator Clonan was rightly outraged that the Government effectively tried to get him to pull the debate and did not even arrange to send somebody else in. It was simply proposing to leave that seat empty. The Cathaoirleach may deal with that, but I want to put on record my solidarity with Senator Clonan. I also raise the fact that the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, was acting as a gentleman and was acting in courtesy to this House.

I will raise one thing about today, which is a day on which the institutions in Northern Ireland are to be up and running again. I welcome that unequivocally. I am delighted that the institutions are to be up and running and that the Good Friday Agreement is to be operated as was envisaged by the people who voted for it. What I want to say is that reconciliation is needed in Northern Ireland between the kind of people who want a united Ireland, including myself, and those who do not. The political system up there requires generosity and mindfulness of the position of others who disagree with the concept of a united Ireland. In that context, I have a comment that I hope Senators Warfield and Gavan will not take amiss. To say that a united Ireland is now within touching distance is very insensitive to the two thirds of people in Northern Ireland-----

Hear, hear.

-----who, according to opinion polls, say they would vote “No” if they were asked the question. It destabilises the debate, rather than reinforcing it. I aspire to a united Ireland. I consider myself an Irish republican, like most Members of this House, I presume. However, to simply announce that we are now within touching distance of a united Ireland flies in the face of the fact that a significant majority of people in Northern Ireland have the right to say “No”, and would say “No”, if the matter was put to a vote.

I want to echo the sentiments expressed by Senator McDowell. Quite frankly, I was taken aback yesterday by the comments that were made by Deputy McDonald. I think Michelle O'Neill showed great insight and understanding of the situation, but the minute Deputy McDonald was asked about it, it was all about Sinn Féin and about what a great opportunity this would be for Sinn Féin, rather than the people they seek to represent up there. It seems to me that when they are just about to reach a consensus, the old triumphalism has come to the fore. I think we have learned our lesson around that. I, as much as anybody, want to see a united Ireland, but it will have to be in a different format from that which was expressed by people in that organisation. It cannot be just about the winner taking it all. I have to say, when you juxtaposed the two leaders side by side, it did not work, quite frankly.

Michelle O'Neill was clearly understanding and understands the issue.

My original intention today was to ask for a debate at the earliest opportunity on the crisis that exists for small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, particularly in the service sector. I have raised in the House on countless occasions the issue of small businesses that are impacted as a result of the loss of tourism beds because of the way in which we have had to manage migration. There are villages and towns that were tourist attractions and that are now housing migrants that have had to come to this country. I understand fully why that has happened, but it has had a very significant impact on small businesses in the area that would have depended on the tourists to operate their businesses and to provide an income for their families and for the people they employ. That is one sector that has not been dealt with and was not dealt with in the budget.

The other small businesses in towns and villages and in large cities are impacted because of the increased cost of business and there are no supports for them. We are seeing restaurants and small businesses closing. We are going to have to take a more comprehensive approach to the State's relationship with the private sector than just through the prism of IBEC and the large multinationals. I would welcome a debate in the House at the earliest opportunity on that particular issue.