Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, was explicit on this matter. He stated that we could get rid of the Government jet in the morning and it would not cause us any problem whatsoever. Does the Taoiseach agree with that statement? Would he agree, for example, that since the first purchase of a Government jet in 1980, there has been a huge increase in the availability of commercial flights and access from this country to various parts of Europe and elsewhere and that perhaps the Minister is correct that getting rid of the Government jet would not cause any problems?

What is the status of the Minister's statement? The notion of what is termed "collective cabinet responsibility" used to exist. I would like to know if the Minister's opinion is in fact the Government's opinion and how the Taoiseach might feel if the House put the statement to the test. What is the Taoiseach's view of the Minister's statement?

Arising from the Taoiseach's earlier reply to Deputy Kenny on the procedure whereby Ministers apply to his Department for the use of the Government jet and are either approved or refused, how many applications were received by the Department in the past year for the use of the jet and how many of these were refused?

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