David Norris (Independent)

One would get exactly the same service and maybe even better because one would not be interrupted by them suggesting their own people. I wonder if what the Minister says is right. He said this is now a private concern. It is. The Government made a big error in flogging off Eircom. I do not approve of all this privatisation because it does not work in the interests of the subscriber but did that not also apply to ground rents? It is directly analogous because the ground rents were held by private people as a money making business yet the Government was able to operate against private investors, and that was not impugned constitutionally or in any other way. A number of people came in and bought up parcels of ground as a business investment. They treated them as a business investment and milked them but the Government had no hesitation in going against those people. Why can we not go against Eircom? Is it because it is owned by Australians? Do we not want to upset the Australians? I know we do not want to upset the Americans but let us upset the Australians and their pension fund.