Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. On one of the issues discussed, the policy debate on urban mobility, the Minister's presentation refers to this being a rather repetitive debate. It seems to me that thinking has not emerged too much in this regard. I am taken to some extent by the press coverage today of Google's plans to introduce a vehicle that does not have any controls other than those that will be guided by systems, which it is in the process of developing and receiving patents for. In the Minister's opinion, will the Commission or any of the member states have direct contact with, or are any of them in discussions with, the industry regarding the whole area of urban mobility? Given Google seems to be moving ahead, it would be important for the Minister to get into conversation with it, considering it has such a presence here. The difficulty is that the industry is often well ahead of where politics and policy is, and this is an example of that. Perhaps this is something on which the Minister could take a lead. I believe he would have the wherewithal to get his head around what Google is at here, so it is something he might comment on.

Another issue which is perhaps not part of policy, to quote Deputy O'Donovan, relates to the industrial relations issues taking place within Irish Rail and more particularly within Aer Lingus, where a strike is looming at the weekend. While I do not want to get into the issues around the strike, does the Minister believe the industrial relations mechanism that exists at present, as deployed by the unions and Aer Lingus, is fit for purpose? This continuous toing and froing between the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court and the continuous balloting for strike action would seem to identify a broader problem within that company between management and unions. Does the Minister believe it is possible to create some other forum or try to facilitate, through some other mechanism, a more comprehensive and long-term solution so we do not have this continuous threat of strike, then moving to a one day or two day strike and so on? This is causing a great deal of uncertainty in the minds not just of the travelling public and business but also tour operators and people who are looking at Ireland as a destination for their summer vacation. The Minister might comment on both issues.