Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It is very difficult to draw any conclusion from what the Taoiseach has said. On the one hand there is no problem — the queues last 15 minutes. On the other hand the airport will soon have 60 million passengers so we need a third terminal before we get a second one. I have heard of leap-frogging a generation but never a terminal. We will have the third before we can agree on the second. We still have no clarity about the positions taken by the Taoiseach and his partners in Government. As I understand it, the Tánaiste is firmly behind Ryanair and Mr. O'Leary. The Taoiseach, on the other hand, is nodding and winking to the trade unions and his local organisation that he might do this and may well do that and that he could build a third terminal before a second.

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