Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I wish to respond to points which have arisen in the debate. The Green Party spokesperson on transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, criticised different Government Deputies. He was critical of the Minister, Deputy Martin, for his absence from the House. He is obviously unaware that the Minister is out of the country at an EU Council meeting. Deputy Ryan only stayed in the Chamber for approximately 15 minutes yet he was highly critical of both Ministers of State, Deputies Gallagher and Killeen, each of whom has been present for a considerably longer period. They contributed to the debate and listened attentively to the contributions of those in the House. I respectfully suggest Deputy Ryan should take a leaf out of their respective books.

Deputy Perry has accused the Government of failing Irish seafarers. I refute this charge which is opportunistic, to put it mildly. We are dealing with an unfortunate idiosyncrasy of modern employment law and the equivalent of latter-day pirates. International law relating to flags of convenience and general shipping laws relating to the use of flags can be exploited utterly by anybody with a mind to do so.

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