Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for letting me speak again. Yesterday I asked for a debate on this issue, but I also requested the documentation. I asked the Chief Whip again this morning to provide the documents, in the presence of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I checked with the Oireachtas Library and noted that the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications had asked that any deal be brought before it for scrutiny. We do not have the full agreement between the Government and IAG, the articles of association or the full text of the letters between the CEO of Aer Lingus and anybody else. However, we are going to have a debate. Unless the Minister is briefing other Deputies to that level of detail, nobody else in the House will have this information. How on earth can we have a debate when we do not have the documentation and why do we not have it when elements were leaked to the media yesterday? We can read extracts suiting the Government's case in this morning's print media.

See this speech in context