Mr. David Begg:

The comments in the Dáil to which I object relate to my handling of the IASS. There seemed to be a coalition of attack on me involving the far right and the far left. I have always been a nemesis of the Trotskyist left in my long career. The latter has a total objection to anybody in social democratic politics. I thought there was a vitriolic dimension to Deputy Clare Daly's attack in that particular political sense. She was willing to make a coalition with the extreme right in order to do that. That struck me as extraordinary. As far as I can recall, in the whole experience of the Aer Lingus matter I do not believe I received a telephone call from the Deputy about it, whereas Deputy Ryan was on my case morning, noon and night. I do not understand what Deputy Clare Daly was at in this regard, other than engaging in a very personal attack in that sense.

I do not know if I have any power to investigate the role of the trustees in the past. I do not think it would even be useful to do that. The past is the past. I do not think anything good can come of it. On the issue of whether it was defined benefit or defined contribution, the judgment on the defined benefit was by the then Pensions Board but that was challenged by the company. Ultimately, it always appeared in the company's balance sheet as a defined contribution scheme. Regardless of who was right or wrong, ultimately, it could only have been tested in the courts.