Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The amendment is related to a number of other amendments tabled by the Labour Party. We have serious concerns about the kind of work standards and conditions which will pertain in the industry upon passage of the Bill. In those areas where competition is taking place, the public sector company will not be disadvantaged. I was seeking to make that point in a global amendment. I understand the difficulty of doing this in general terms, although I have specified the issue in other amendments. A core issue for our party is how workers and the passengers of transport companies will be looked after in the future. We do not want to see one law for one group and one law for the other.

I am amused to hear Deputy O'Dowd to talk about freedom of information requests. We could extend the FOI legislation to all companies, such as Independent News and Media, The Irish Times Limited and so on, so that we might know the salary range of the ladies and gentlemen who sit in the Press Gallery and compare it to the salary range in this House, an issue about which they write quite often.

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