Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

I wish to ask about job retention on a grand scale. Quinn Group provides 6,000 jobs in Ireland and internationally, including 1,400 jobs in the area of County Cavan that Senator Wilson and I represent. Quinn Insurance, which has been in administration for more than six months, has drawn up an independently verified plan with its banker, Anglo Irish Bank, to keep the business in local ownership and save Quinn Group. This plan can work but Government intervention is needed before it can be progressed. I call for an emergency debate on this matter because if the pending purchase of Quinn Insurance by an international company is completed, Quinn Group will be in trouble and 1,400 jobs in County Cavan will be at threat. There are no bonuses in this area either in terms of employment or money. If these jobs are lost, the area will regress to the 1950s or worse. I urge the Deputy Leader to bring the issue to the relevant Ministers and facilitate a debate in this House. The plan drawn up by Quinn Insurance and its combined shareholders must be implemented immediately.