Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

The news that the Quinn Group is to be allowed to write new insurance in the UK is welcome for its employees. Senator O'Reilly and I attended a meeting in Navan last week with 200 Quinn Group employees. Navan, as the House will know, is suffering severe unemployment at the moment, so the last thing it needs is further job losses. The number one priority expressed to us by staff was a re-opening of the insurance company's ability to sell in the UK. I welcome this announcement and believe everyone present wishes the Quinn Group employees well in their endeavours to hold on to their jobs.

I listened this morning to Dublin Bus announcing plans to completely change its services in the Dublin area. This follows on from a comprehensive review of services and we all recognise the vast improvements in the network as a result of the quality bus corridors being finished. We see faster journey times and, as a result, more journeys may be made with fewer buses. That bodes well for the commuter area in general.

People in counties Meath and Kildare tell me quite often that they need to see better cross-Dublin services and improved orbital routes. Therefore Dublin Bus's announcement this morning to the effect that this is exactly what it is doing is good news. We need to see in-depth consultation with staff, however. They see what is happening at the coalface and their views need to be taken into account.

Like others, I welcome the decision by the chief executive of the Bank of Ireland to forgo his pension top-up. There has been some debate about the deal that was done. Mr. Boucher was doing precisely what anyone else would do, namely, seeking the best deal he could get for himself. The error in the deal rests with those on the opposite side of the table who should have been more aware of the potential consequences of such an agreement in the current economic climate, because this single deal had the potential to sway people away from the public sector pay deal. Mr. Boucher is correct in what he has done and is leading the way. He is an example to other industry leaders who have failed to do this and effectively given two fingers to the people. I urge such people to take a leaf out of Mr. Boucher's book.

On the recent aviation ban, like Senator O'Toole I am very concerned about the losses to passengers as a result of having to put themselves up in hotels and buy food, and the potential loss as a result of losing wages. I called yesterday for the Minister to make the airlines aware of their roles and responsibilities in this matter, but it is clear that this is a unique event. I am not sure whether it is fair to expect one particular group, either passengers or airlines, to cough up for the costs involved. I suggest the Minister asks the airlines to put together an estimate of the compensation claims involved. If the figure is excessive, I suggest the Minister seeks some sort of contribution from the European Union to help allay the costs.