Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I support Senator Feeney's words about the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. She showed this House great respect during the years and was willing to come in and take questions. What she has done during the years has been quite brave inasmuch as she accepted a poisoned chalice of a portfolio in which no one has succeeded. I do not know of any Minister with responsibility for the health portfolio since perhaps Noel Browne who has left office without being criticised. When she accepted that poisoned chalice, she knew she was not accepting an easy job. I am delighted Senator Feeney said this.

Senator Hanafin raised the question of tourism. I know we will not find time to debate it at this late stage but there is a need to hold our heads up high. Last week the Condé Nast travel magazine published the best hotels in Europe. These were five star hotels and four of the top ten were Irish. That is a sensational achievement but very little has been heard about it. The first was Ashford Castle and the other three were Mount Juliet, Dromoland Castle and Adare Manor. This is not the judgment of journalists but of people who have stayed in these hotels and voted for them. Four of the top hotels in Europe are in Ireland and we should be proud of that and publicise it.

Like Senators Leyden and Buttimer, I am concerned about the difficulties in Aer Lingus but let us not take the step which got us into trouble in the past. Whenever there was a difficulty, someone called on the Government to sort it out. That really means take over and say to the strong arm of management that it must give in to the unions. There are a number of unions in Aer Lingus and all have agreed to the terms. One union agreed approximately 15 months ago but has refused to do what it agreed to do for 15 months. The worst thing would be for the Government to say it is going to sort this out. That is what happened in the past and when it happened, it set an example to those who accepted the terms that the Government would come in and force management to give way to a union which did not accept the terms. Let us ensure this State does not start to interfere in the commercial practices of an organisation despite the fact we would like to see Aer Lingus operate well and bring tourists to this country.