I was following the debate on the Order of Business upstairs in my office and I felt compelled to come to the House to speak about the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. There were some scurrilous accusations being hurled his way and I am glad that some comments were withdrawn on my way down to the Chamber because it is not something any of us in here could stand over.

The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has been extremely responsive to Members of this House, Members of the Lower House and councillors around the country. He is, in fact, one of the most responsive Ministers. The recent roads funding announcement was far more significant than those of previous Ministers for transport.

Senator O'Reilly was not here in the previous term but I was, and I can compare the current Minister for Transport to the previous Minister. What the Minister has done in terms of road funding is very significant. If I look at the list of other transport infrastructure projects he has been pushing on, it includes the delivery of MetroLink, which is a significant project for the country, not just Dublin. The whole north-east region will benefit from MetroLink. It also includes the expansion of the rural bus network and the rail network, including DART+ Coastal North, DART+ West and the Luas expansion. The Minister is doing all of that in addition to his very important brief on energy infrastructure. It is completely erroneous to suggest that he or any of his colleagues are reluctant to come in to the House. I have found all our senior Ministers, including the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to be very responsive. He is always around and is always open to talk to any of us. It is unbecoming of a Member of this House to attack him in the manner in which he was attacked.