Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

As the Cathaoirleach rightly pointed out, some 27 Members contributed to the Order of Business. I will do my best to get through them as quickly as possible. Senator O'Brien mentioned the rumours of job losses at Aviva, which are a source of great concern to the workers, their families and everyone else involved. Aviva is currently undertaking a review of its operations in Ireland, but until that has been completed it would be premature to speculate on its outcome. I can confirm that IDA Ireland is working with Aviva management to mitigate any negative outcome from the review. We all wish that any job losses will be minimised in that regard. Hopefully, the rumours will prove to be false and we will have very few job losses in Aviva. The matter is under review, however, and the IDA is in negotiation with management.

Senator O'Brien and others also referred to the Palestinian request to the United Nations for statehood. Government motion No. 14 states, "That Seanad Éireann reaffirms the long-standing support of the Irish Government and people for the establishment of a Palestinian state, based upon Israel's pre-1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps". It is a worthy diplomatic motion.