Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I thank the Leader for agreeing to change the starting time for No. 3. The change was required because our spokesperson could not be in two places at the one time.

Some weeks ago the Leader organised a debate following the abduction of Margaret Hassan. We have learned only in the past 24 hours that it seems Margaret Hassan is dead. This is a shocking and bloody murder and I want to extend our sympathy to her family and her husband, in particular, following the news that has come from Iraq in the past day or so. This woman was against the war and sanctions. She stood shoulder to shoulder with the Iraqi people for most of her adult life and has been destroyed in the most appalling way. In her memory and the memory of countless other people who have been kidnapped and murdered in this way, there is a responsibility on civilised society and governments throughout the world to bring some stability to Iraq to ensure elections can proceed and that some normality is brought to that war-torn land. Our sympathies are with her family today.

The Leader, as a former Minister for Public Enterprise, knows well that there seem to be sharp differences between both Government parties regarding the future of Aer Lingus. I am not sure what happened to the notion of collective Cabinet responsibility. It seems to have gone very much outside the door. Will the Leader organise a debate with the Minister for Transport on this issue? He indicated this morning that he has a short period in which to make up his mind about the future of Aer Lingus. The Government should publish the Goldman Sachs report as soon as possible and circulate the information in the public domain. I have no great hang-ups regarding public or private funding for the airline going forward. It is important that it remain competitive, profitable and focused on its customers. If this means a flotation in the marketplace or the investment of substantial private funding in the airline, so be it. It is important that the Government make a decision and not continue with its procrastination, which led to the resignation of Mr. Walsh and his colleagues over the past 48 hours.