David Norris (Independent)

Members should consider people like me, who are unable to deal with computers properly. Given airline fare structures, one must be an Einstein to get a proper fare. Why not have some kind of standard fares from airlines that claim to operate scheduled flights? The seats are all flogged off to tour operators and one must scramble months in advance, or pay four times the price, to get a seat from an airline. The question of price fixing also arises.

While I should allow my colleague to make his contribution, my final point is that I wish the Minister well and I will not be partisan in this regard. However, my hopes are not high. Like the Skibbereen Eagle, Members are watching because the Government's record in looking after consumers' interests is poor. For example, Members should consider the e-voting issue. Mr. John McCarthy has stated he gave evidence to an Oireachtas committee some time before the Minister signed the order for the machines that are not worth a tuppenny damn. Members have now discovered that the Minister for Health and Children was warned about the BUPA situation, whereby any number of insurers will float in to get a free ride in respect of risk equalisation. The concept of caveat emptor applies to both the ordinary individual citizen as a consumer and to the Government, which represents the people on our behalf.