John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I agree with Senators Brian Hayes and Ryan on the Redundancy Payments Bill. As the only Kilkenny man in the Seanad, I wish to make special reference to the Comerama plant in Castlecomer to which Senator Coghlan also referred. I was present at a number of meetings where commitments were entered into which, apparently, will not now to be honoured. Castlecomer has been an unemployment blackspot since the closure of the coal mines there in the 1960s and 1970s. With the closure of the Comerama plant, it is imperative that commitments entered into by the Tánaiste should be honoured by the Government.

I wish to ask the Leader about a report in today's newspapers by a Garda review group which seems to suggest that the number, currently 44, of 24-hour Garda stations in Dublin will be significantly reduced as the review progresses in the coming years. It is highly inappropriate that, at a time when such public order problems exist, any review of Garda resources would seek to close any existing 24-hour Garda stations in the capital.