Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Unemployment has doubled to 225,000, tax revenue has decreased by billions of euro and the Minister for Finance has turned a surplus into a deficit. Does the Leader agree that Wall Street and the economic crisis were not the reason the mother of an adult child who is paralysed was told yesterday by a community welfare officer in Cork that she could only have four nappies and must control her daughter's incontinence? This case and job losses last week are the Government's legacy.

I have repeatedly asked the Leader for a debate on aviation policy. The Minister for Transport, a member of the Leader's party, has refused to publish a report on the debt of Cork Airport and has failed to appoint a chairman of the Cork Airport Authority. He has also failed to separate the boards of Cork, Shannon and Dublin airports. When will a debate on aviation policy take place? When will the Minister, who has been silent on Cork Airport, answer questions on these issues in the House?