Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

Many speakers have supported Senators Finucane and O'Toole in seeking a debate on Aer Rianta. I ask the Leader to schedule the debate so that it deals with the fundamental issues rather than just the strike. It should deal with matters such as benchmarking, where the salaries of people in the public service were brought up to the levels of those in the private sector. Conditions should also apply to the public service as is the case in the private sector. There are no guarantees on jobs or on the performance of a company. These are always subject to the vagaries of trade. There is a need to instil in the public service that efficiency, productivity and customer service are the only fundamental safeguards people have in their employment security. I have considerable sympathy with the Minister for Transport as he has many difficult areas with which to deal. He should be encouraged and complimented for taking the initiative on these matters.

I ask the Leader to either broaden this debate or hold a separate debate on competition as it affects the public service. There are many areas in which the State is inclined to buttress the public service to the disadvantage of the private sector. Eircom, which is now a private company, brings with it the culture it had when it was in the public service. The idea of increasing its lines significantly is to enable it to retain customers, which in turn disadvantages other companies that might compete with it to get those customers. The ESB and the area of electricity supply needs to be investigated. RTE now gets 95% of the licence fee. There are some very good broadcasters, which are disadvantaged, and competition may be skewed as a result.