John Ellis (Fianna Fail)

-----as people who are in the mood to watch a political blood bath and the casting of political sweat, as we have all witnessed.

Today air traffic controllers went on strike for four hours. While we all accept people have a right to strike, in so doing the air traffic controllers disrupted air travel and caused the cancellation of up to 160 flights. I do not believe all of the available methods to solve the dispute, by way of the various resources available to employers and unions, were utilised. This serious issue must be addressed. It might be useful if we were to have a debate in the House on how unions and employers deal with such strikes. I would call this a wildcat strike. It cannot be called anything else, but the damage it does to this country and to the outside view of it is something that must be looked at. I am asking this in the hope that the Leader will arrange for a debate on how the labour laws are used to deal with and try to prevent strikes. Today's action does nothing only cause serious disruption to people who want to travel and, on top of that, it damages the good name of Ireland in the international scene.