David Norris (Independent)

How refreshing it is to hear honest criticism of Government policy from that side of the House. It is a democratic practice and I welcome it. An Adjournment debate on the issue is appropriate but such a debate usually deals with one specific issue and I agree with Senator Leyden that it should not preclude a wider debate. As someone who, like most Dublin people, is one hop out of the bog, this seems to be the death knell for many rural communities. The post office is part of the web of rural life and I would welcome a wider debate on this aspect of life in this country.

I salute Senator Minihan. It was courageous of him to criticise a Government of which his party is a member. I do not say that to rub salt into the wounds and encourage further aggravation but it is important to have honest dissent. It was not just the then Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, who gave an undertaking that Cork Airport would be debt-free. The Taoiseach did so himself, not on the record of either House but at a news conference. I do not wish to be parochial about Dublin Airport but the airport authority was given hotels which it could sell off. Cork Airport is a very fine airport and we need to create a level playing field so that it has a reasonable chance.

I laugh when I hear the sacred cow of competition being invoked. Let us not accept the notion of competition uncritically because it does a lot of damage. It was wrong to abolish the groceries order but everyone followed Eddie Hobbs like lemmings when he said the prices in the sample basket of goods would decline. In fact prices have risen.

I ask for a debate on business ethics in this country because it is scandalous that Dunnes Stores has moved against a small supplier. A very large company can secure special rights over another company, which it keeps in a dependent position because it has signed a contract as an exclusive supplier. Then it squeezes the supplier for every bit of profit it can get. Disgusting avarice was displayed by representatives of Dunnes Stores, which makes enormous profits, when they objected to an increase in profits of 1% and then ruthlessly closed down the supplier and threw a large number of people out of work. That is the unacceptable face of capitalism. Since we worship competition why do we not force companies such as Dunnes Stores to compete for suppliers, and prevent them from closing down decent companies and throwing people out of work?