David Norris (Independent)

I strongly support Senator Coffey on his call for debate on the fate of Waterford Glass, which is one of our most historic industries and represents Ireland all over the world. Just yesterday, visitors to the House admired the beautiful Waterford Glass chandeliers that grace this Chamber. I have, however, some concern with regard to Government intervention. We must look back, for example, at its intervention in the case of the banks. That was highly unpopular with taxpayers and the moneys were never repaid. Why should capitalist enterprise be propped up by taxpayers?

I support a debate, but it must be nuanced. Sir Anthony O'Reilly and his empire have made clear their advocacy of the open market and people do not want to shovel bucket loads of cash into his already overloaded pockets in order to sustain Waterford Glass. If taxpayers' money is put into the company, there should be certain guarantees provided. Either the company should be partly nationalised — I would be proud of it as a State enterprise and hope it would work — or guarantees should be provided to the State as a preferential creditor. If the company is an embarrassment to Sir Anthony and he is making a commercial decision that he can no longer support it, let him give the shares to the State. He has plenty of other things in his back pocket. I understand he has previously supported Waterford Glass out of his own pocket. I appreciate his generosity in doing that and understand that he may not wish to do it any longer.

Will the Leader confirm something he said yesterday and give me a date for a discussion in the House with the Minister on the question of the location of the Abbey Theatre? The editorial of Monday's The Irish Times mentioned that the recent unveiling of the proposal for the Carlton site in O'Connell Street illustrates the necessity for a landmark cultural component to counterface the commercial overload of the plan for this key location. I understand a major British retail force will be located on the Carlton site, but there has been no mention of a cultural aspect to the site or any mention of the Abbey Theatre.

I call for debate on the National Roads Authority and its attitude towards the environment. This is biodiversity week, but consider how it is being celebrated in County Meath. The National Roads Authority has contacted Meath County Council and it has franchised out the spraying of the hedgerows with 2,4-D, a highly toxic chemical. This is killing nestlings, destroying a huge variety of plants and fouling the groundwater in the area. One of the reasons given for the spraying was that the massive scale of the motorworks in the area has disturbed noxious weeds so that seeds have been distributed everywhere. The NRA is behind this disturbance. The contract for the spraying has been given to Kellogg, Brown & Root, KBR, which is owned by Halliburton, whose chief executive is——