“I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, for this appointment to his front bench. This is an honour both for myself and for the Fine Gael organisation in Sligo North Leitrim.

“I believe it is also recognition of all the hard work I have done in the past three years on behalf of the constituency and of the Party, especially the active role I played in Fine Gael successes in the recent local elections, the European parliament election and the Lisbon referendum campaign.

“In taking up a front bench position, I will have to give up my role as Chair of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny. In the past three years I established the Committee and brought it to the point where it is now seen as one of the most active and successful Scrutiny Committees in Europe.

“During the past few months I have played an active part in the review of how the Committee role will evolve so as to implement the new provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. This review is nearing completion, and now is a good time for me to hand over the Committee Chair role. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my Committee colleagues for their cooperation and hard work in the past few years and I wish them well for the future.

“I look forward to my new role as Spokesman for Small Business. I have a long-standing and practical interest in the challenges and opportunities facing small business in our country. I see the small business sector as having a crucial role in local job creation and economic recovery. In my new role, I will use every possible opportunity to advance the interests of the small business sector.

“Under the confident and capable leadership of Enda Kenny, we will bring forward policies aimed at job creation and economic recovery. We will put these policies before the electorate at the next election. And the sooner the election comes, the better for our citizens. I hope to be a key part of the next Government as a key member of a new Fine Gael Government. This new Front Bench team will all be working together to get the country back up and running so that we can create a fairer and more prosperous society. I look forward to doing my part in the challenges ahead.”