David Norris (Independent)

We have gone through that already.

I support Senator Higgins in saying it is very important for us to give the maximum backing to the two Ministers. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, seems to have held the line pretty well. When attempts were made to abolish the Irish Box altogether, he simply refused and indicated he would veto this. Concessions have already been made. No more should be made for precisely the reason stated by Senator Higgins. We cannot afford to let the Spanish destroy all our fishing stocks.

The Leader may agree with me that it might be appropriate for us to congratulate the national airline, Aer Lingus, on winning the award as the best value airline in Europe, despite the intervention of a mean-minded Mr. O'Leary, who is also very misinformed. He described the executives who voted for another prize as ignorant and stupid because they voted for an airline as being the best when it did not provide flights to England. I accept that it may not, perhaps, provide flights from Dublin, but I wonder if he has heard of a city called Cork? As someone who is geographically challenged, perhaps he could be informed that Cork is part of the Republic of Ireland.