Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

——I often thought the local authority was off the wall. Everybody can have his or her opinion but, as in government and other areas, somebody must make the final decision. That is how it is. It is God, so to speak, in that it makes the decision and the rest of us will love it or hate it as a result.

The Senator referred to the decision made about Cork port. Personally, I might regard that decision as strange, given my background, particularly the reference to it not being rail linked and so forth. I spent years working in CIE when it was Government policy or CIE policy to close down railways. I might have found that decision——