I pass on my condolences to Senator Craughwell on the death of his wife and also to Phyllis and the Bonner family. Enda was a man who I knew fairly well. He served on the council along with my father years ago. We had many chats. Believe it or not, during the last chat I had with him about six months ago he told me what I was doing wrong and how he was only putting me right. I thank him for those kind words. We also lost a superstar in Donegal during the summer. I send my condolences to the McHugh and O'Donnell families, and especially to Emma and Eoin, on the deaths of James and Noreen McHugh, who sadly lost their lives over the summer. James was part of the 1992 panel. He really was one of the superstars who brought Sam to Donegal.

Over the summer I travelled to fishing ports over the length and breadth of this country. The frustration that is out there is unreal. It is coming from fishermen and fisherwomen all over this country. I cannot put it into words without getting really mad. I know from talking to inshore fishermen, factory owners and pelagic boat owners that they are all feeling the pain. I know the fuel support scheme came in and there is money left. It needs to be drawn down. We need the Minister to get us answers. We need to get answers on where the Berkery report is at. When will it be published? When can we see it? Where are the port listings for Killybegs? We were told before Christmas that the port listings for Killybegs had been applied for, but I heard today that they have not been applied for. Other countries like Denmark had it within three months. Simple things can make a big difference to coastal communities. Where is the brown crab consultation process at? This issue with brown crab has been going on for years now. We need to get that sorted. Are we going to stand up and fight for Ireland on the Hague preferences or we are just going to roll over as usual? We need our people out fighting for this. All I have heard since I entered politics is about the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. We need to be doing more than reforming it. We need to get it sorted out. I am sorry, a Chathaoirligh, but it is time for action. We have heard enough words being spoken for the last while. We need action on this.

I thank everybody for their offers of condolence and in particular my group which stood by me for the three months that Helen was in hospital and the hospice.

It is a pretty shocking thing when you get notice and are told you likely have a year ahead of you, when that year shrinks to a couple of weeks.

Over the next couple of Orders of Business there are a number of things I want to address. Helen was very accepting of her fate and she set about planning everything to do with the end of her life. That included such things as enduring power of attorney, the advanced health declaration form, the hospice itself and how she wanted her final burial carried out. It was extraordinary at times to visit her in the hospice and find the level of good humour I found. She was still able to take the mick out of people and to deal with some of the horrendous things that were confronting her. Her love of her children and her grandchildren was palpable all of the time. The one thing she was adamant I would do was to use the office I have to point out some of the issues that families encounter at this time.

Some of these are issues we all should be thinking about today and are some of the things we should be doing in preparation for the end of our own lives. None of us knows when we get up in the morning that we will go to bed that night or when we go to bed at night that we will get up the following morning. It takes a person of extraordinary courage and strength to sit down, having been given her diagnosis, to engage with me on things like the kind of music she wanted for her funeral. One of the amusing things she said to me at the time was "I wonder will Micheál Martin attend my funeral". I laughed and said there was no chance of that. She said, "What about the Defence Forces? You spend your life talking about them. Will I get a guard of honour?" I said I doubted that very much. I remember the day before we went to the church the funeral directors contacted me saying they needed to talk about protocols. I asked what protocols they meant and they said the Taoiseach was going to be represented at my wife's funeral. I said, "Jesus, do not do that to me, she will sit up." The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and the Ceann Comhairle were represented, and many Members of this House and the Lower House contacted me. It was in the middle of holiday season and people were away and not able to attend, but there is a massive comfort in having people come to you at a time like this and sympathise with you.

Looking around the Chamber here now, I do not think any of us can possibly understand what it is like. I went away for a week to try to clear my head once everything was over. I came back at 10 o'clock on a Friday night and turned the key in my front door. I walked in the door and the silence was deafening. I walked into the conservatory and switched on the TV set and the bloody sound would not work. I looked towards the heavens and I said, "You really are having a laugh now, aren't you?" At the end of the day, that silence is there every day. Her beloved dog, Pickles, is in the house, and the lazy so-and-so will not move himself. He just curls up in a ball and lies down. Every now and then he goes out and looks up the stairs to see what is happening and comes back in and sits down, but for company I would be better off with a teddy bear.

I really do thank colleagues and over the coming days I want to deal with those things, such as enduring power of attorney, the advanced health declaration and the hospice. When we were told Helen was going to the hospice I thought "death". Never once did anybody in the hospice mention the words "die", "death" or anything like that. Thursday night in Our Lady's Hospice in Harold's Cross is the place to be if you fancy a drink and a bit of music because the bar opens and it is a great night. I will leave it at that and will come back on the other stuff over the next few days.

I thank Senator Craughwell for sharing that very intimate final few weeks and days of his wife's journey on this earth and his support for her.