John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I agree with Senators Hannigan and Ryan who callsed on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, to do all in her power to ensure the Ryanair proposal to create 300 jobs at hanger 6, the old SR Technics site in north Dublin, will not go by the boards. I do not accept that, thus far, she has pulled out all the stops in that regard. If we look back on our period of economic expansion in the early 1990s, there were many multinationals companies for which the Government bent over backwards to try to ensure they invested in Ireland. Ryanair is an Irish multinational and we should not let the opportunity pass. I do not believe the Minister has done everything in her power to ensure 300 jobs are created at hanger 6 in north Dublin.

I support the leader of Fine Gael in the House, Senator Fitzgerald, in her call for a debate on the question of whether the House has confidence in the Minster for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea. I disagree with Senators Mullen and Norris. When a situation is presented where a senior Cabinet Minister is shown to have given incorrect information in an affidavit in a High Court case, that is a matter of huge national significance. I do not believe intermediary steps are needed in terms of how he should be treated by the House having broken the law. He is a senior office holder of the State and a practising solicitor. There are two Members of the House who are Green Party members. Where are they this morning? The Leader might be able to enlighten us on the issue.