Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I have no particular hang-up, based on daft ideological grounds, about the ownership of airports and other facilities, nor do I have an ideological hang-up that competition always produces better services. The example of the health care system in the United States should calm all those who get too carried away with ideology. The US spends between 14% and 15% of gross domestic product on health care but has the lowest life expectancy and highest infant mortality rates in the developed world. Its health system does not work. For those who can afford to pay for all they require, it is wonderful but as a provider of health services for consumers it is far from it.

I have no problems with competition and regard it as beneficial in many cases. The issue, however, is the necessity to protect those who are at work. We are observing in the courts the manifestations of a seedy, slimy form of competition involving people who could not speak English. While I do not wish to prejudice the case, if a quarter of what is alleged is true, it is the most unpleasant form of competition. Let us not, therefore, get carried away with competition and business efficiency.

I have always been intrigued by the first study of Aer Rianta's proposals to develop Dublin Airport. Commissioned in 1999, the Warburg Dillon Reid report took issue with Aer Rianta's forecasts on passenger numbers growth. A cursory reading of the findings makes clear that Aer Rianta's predictions were closer to what eventually transpired than the eminent and, I am sure, extremely expensive consultants. Wearing my engineer's hat, I am sceptical that anybody could forecast five years ahead with an accuracy of more than plus or minus 10%. The consultants claimed they could forecast better than Aer Rianta but got it wrong. The reason I make this point is that there is no single answer and it is the role of Government to act. Governments should not wait for all the issues to resolve themselves and deal only with what is left. That approach is about giving up as opposed to governing.

I do not need eminent consultants to tell me that Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is so far ahead of Dublin Airport in terms of service to customers that the two are beyond comparison. I recently flew from Amsterdam to Dublin and the difference between the appearance of the airports, service, accessibility, friendliness and everything else was an embarrassment for Dublin Airport. The reason has nothing to do with ideology or competition but is due to the quality of the people who run the service, their commitment and the willingness of those who fund the airport to provide funding in advance, rather than spending seven years in an ideological distorted dance with each other.

We have two Government parties, one of which has no ideology but wants to stay on good terms with a trade union that does and another which has an ideology which is totally irrelevant to the issue. The real problem is not what decision was taken but that no decision was taken. Our major airport is now grossly overcrowded, grossly underfunded and because of overcrowding, less than efficient. It may be efficient in terms of revenue per passenger, but in terms of the comfort of those who use it, it must be slipping rapidly down the European chart of desirable places to use airline services.

I have no idea what the outcome will be. I speak as a member of a party to which SIPTU is affiliated. Currently, SIPTU is vigorously opposed to privatisation of Dublin Airport. However, if a 15% share was put on offer to the members of SIPTU who work there, I suspect that a dramatic ideological conversion would take place overnight. I am supposed to defend both positions, but I will not do so. If this starts a row between the Labour Party and SIPTU, so be it. Fundamentally, it is not a question of ownership but a question of the rights of those who work there to be protected, no matter what the ownership system might be, provided the workers do the job they are supposed to do. However, the fundamental problem is that we now have an ideological stand-off between two Government parties. One of the parties, whose position has been articulated with clarity and consistency by Senator Morrissey, believes contrary to evidence, that the way forward is through competition. For example, there are three major airports around London, namely, Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow. Stansted is the growth airport.