Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree fundamentally with the Minister regarding a different landscape obtaining now. Sometimes I hear commentary, even in this House and even today, about people choosing austerity, as if anybody picked austerity when there was no other option because there was no other money available to us. We are in a different landscape now and I hope we can have that sense of solidarity that will allow us to make the necessary decisions. I would like to put several questions to the Minister, but I will focus on one final thing.

I refer to a strategy to deal with the commercial semi-State companies. Many of them are suffering incredibly under the Covid-19 restrictions. The Minister will have seen the announcements from the Dublin Airport Authority. He referred to them yesterday. We can go through all of them, from Bord na Móna to the CIÉ Group, but in the minute available to him, can the Minister provide a brief outline of his discussions to date in support of the semi-State companies, where he sees them emerging and what he can do to ensure that all of them continue to thrive in future.

See this speech in context