Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Those of us who were privileged to be in this House in July 1990 will always remember the occasion when Nelson Mandela addressed the House. Today, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his release, it is appropriate to remember a man who persevered all his life for what he believed in pursuit of the rights of his people, who suffered enormously for his beliefs and made such a difference to the world and his country.

Yesterday the Taoiseach told me the first the Government heard of the job losses in Bank of Scotland (Ireland) was when the Tánaiste's Department was notified of the redundancies, but he did not seem to know if anybody had ever talked to people from the Bank of Scotland about measures that might save the jobs. As line Minister with responsibility for employment, has the Tánaiste had any contact with the Bank of Scotland with a view to saving jobs in the bank here?

With regard to another matter connected to the Tánaiste's Department, one of the newspapers this morning reported that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment produced a report on the FÁS science challenge programme. The Tánaiste will recall this was the programme which gave occasion for so many FÁS executives and Ministers to travel to Florida. The programme apparently cost €7.8 million. I note the headline in the Irish Independent described it as a "waste of space".

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