John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I join the call for a debate on the privatisation of Aer Lingus, particularly in light of the fact that France, which is at the heart of the European social economic model, privatised Air France and retained a key share. When commentators look back at previous privatisations, they should be fair. On the occasion of the Eircom privatisation, investors did not make as much as they had done when Greencore and Irish Life were privatised, or from other equities in general given that private investors in this country have done well. However, the State did extraordinarily well in the case of Eircom. The Minister of the time, Mr. McCreevy, should be commended on putting €5 billion into the National Pensions Reserve Fund, which has doubled in value and is of benefit for all for the future.

I join the call for a debate on road safety and the need for insurance companies to take a lead. Given the vast profits they are making, they might develop a loss leader to ensure that road safety is paramount.