Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I am really tired of it. We make changes to accommodate the Department, but suddenly the matter is no longer urgent. I am not happy to complete our debate of the Bill on Friday although I do not mind if we deal with Second Stage because we have already committed to dealing with it. I am opposed to rushing the Bill through on Friday because there is no longer any urgency. The urgency pressed on us by the Leader in all honesty was that the Bill had to passed by us before the weekend. This is no longer the case and the Department should be told to take a running jump. It always carries on in this manner. It makes its business urgent for everybody, yet it always gets it wrong. This is about the third time in two years we have had to revisit legislation on which the Department refused to accept changes when it was first brought through these Houses. It is the worst Department to deal with in this House. It never accepts amendments. No matter which Minister is present, they sit blank-faced and stonewall through all Stages. We never make progress with them and the result is that legislation has to be revisited and all sorts of difficulties arise such as the reappointment of judges who have been in office for years. This happens with the Department time and again. I am not prepared, and neither should the House be, to rush through this legislation on Friday morning. The legislation is crucial because it gives additional powers to people and we must give it time.

We must also examine the implications of the European Commission decision in relation to Ryanair. Members of the Houses must be made aware of the difference between subventions and doing business with airports. Ryanair has been fleecing small airports around Europe. If the Commission gets it right on Tuesday, there will be no further difficulty. However, if it comes up with a solution which prevents an airport such as Shannon from doing the sort of deal it does at present, where it does not apply a charge to those opening new routes for some years, it will be a disaster. There is nothing wrong with it stopping unscrupulous airlines such as Ryanair from forcing small communities to pay money they do not have for the provision of a service but if it prevents airports from doing deals to provide incentives to open new routes, it will create a huge problem. We need openness and understanding on this issue. We do not all need to rush behind Ryanair, but we do need to support openness and be aware of the needs of small airports such as Shannon, Charleroi and others.