Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

To clarify, the requirement for the job is a leaving certificate. It is great that anybody can aspire to be an air traffic controller. What is required is not numerous degrees but a special skill, as Deputy Broughan observed. We too require a special skill to deal with industrial relations. I reiterate that there must be a no-strike clause for workers in essential services such as transport.

I accept the price we have paid for industrial peace and welcome the progress that has been made in this regard. However, we are less competitive now than ever before and have dropped 17 places in the competitiveness league in the past four to five years. Changes must be made to reverse this substantial drop. One of those changes is to ensure there are no more strikes such as the one we face next Thursday. There seems little concern for how it will affect the State and the public.

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