Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

Approximately three weeks ago in the House I raised the issue of the ongoing review at Aviva. I now understand from reports that Aviva is looking to shed anything from 800 to 1,000 posts in this country. At the time I asked what contact the Government had with Aviva. Has the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, been in contact with that company? Last week, the Taoiseach was asked whether progress was being made in Aviva. As all Members will appreciate, the loss of 1,000 jobs located less than one mile from Leinster House would be a significant loss for the city of Dublin and the 1,000 families involved. I was a little concerned last week when the Taoiseach stated that he would await Aviva's completion of its review, as I suggest it will be too late at that stage. Aviva will have made its decision by then and up to 1,000 jobs could be lost. If one takes the example of Quinn Insurance, which was a difficult issue for the previous Government to deal with, most jobs there were retained because the relevant Ministers became involved at the review stage before a decision was taken to decrease numbers at that company. The Leader should indicate what contacts the Government has made with Aviva to ascertain whether it can address some of the concerns Aviva may have in order to save these jobs. This is to avoid arriving at a point on the company's completion of its review next month at which it announces that due to rationalisation, it intends to decrease its workforce by 1,000, after which Ireland runs off to Europe seeking retraining funds and so on because everything already has happened.

Second, several weeks ago Senator Quinn raised the issue of illegal diesel and the many new petrol stations that have opened up around the city and nationwide that are selling illegal diesel at a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €300 million per annum. At the time, Senator Quinn rightly mentioned that the maximum penalties at present are the closure of the offending garage for 24 hours and a €3,000 fine. While this issue should have been dealt with before now - by the previous Government - this practice is becoming more prevalent and is being run by subversive organised crime elements. The Leader should indicate whether the Government has plans to introduce legislation to amend existing legislation to increase dramatically the penalties against such operations in the first instance. The penalty at present is a €3,000 fine and a closure order of 24 hours' duration. The profit derived from a single full container of illegal diesel can be as much as €19,000 and it pays those involved to break the law. Are plans afoot to introduce legislation, which would be supported from this side of the House, to increase these penalties?