Shane Ross (Independent)

—— had the vision to establish the IFSC. That decision did not take as long as it has taken to establish a second terminal at Dublin Airport. Mr. Haughey was able to make a decision on the IFSC and get it moving successfully within months, yet the Taoiseach has not been able to make any decision on this rather less important issue over three years. The reasons for this are simple — the seats in north Dublin and obsession with politics. It has nothing to do with any of the issues described by Senator Dooley. It has nothing to do with economics, finance or the consumers; it is to do with the seats. While the Senator can bamboozle people with figures until the cows come home, the sole objective is to hold the north Dublin seats.

Let us consider the people Senator Dooley claims need to be consulted. I would agree with him about one or two of them. Certainly it is now perfectly normal to consult the unions — I see nothing wrong with that. However, it is not perfectly normal to be dictated to by the unions or to do deals with the unions, which affect not only the second terminal, but also affect Aer Lingus. Senator Brian Hayes is right in saying that it is obvious that the deal is being done with these two semi-State bodies in mind. It is a single deal intertwining them. The people not being consulted are the businesspeople of the country while the trade unions are being consulted.