Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

While I acknowledge the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Support, Deputy Leo Varadkar, has been a good attendee in the Seanad, it is time to bring him back for an urgent debate on the future of the regional airports. The bad news from Galway this morning with regard to the pull-out of Aer Arann follows on from a near-disastrous set of circumstances in County Kerry towards the end of the tourism season when no flights were operated to and from Dublin for a period. The Government has not got a sense of the importance of our regional airports. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to come to the House for a debate on the matter.

I am sure the Leader and other Members will be as surprised as I was to learn that every time a person purchases an item in a shop and pays with a credit or debit card, it creates and supports jobs in the UK. I am an independent retailer and when our terminals failed and needed to be replaced and updated I learned to my surprise that rather than dealing with AIB, we were dealing with Ingenico, which is based in Huddersfield or some other place in England. It appears that AIB has franchised its entire plastic operation to a British company. We are effectively the owners of AIB and I cannot understand how that situation was allowed to develop. Some 75% of retail sales use credit or debit cards and we are supposed to be the masters of the smart economy. Why in the name of God was that done? I ask the Leader to investigate and come up with an answer.

Further to what Senator Leyden said about judicial appointments, the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, did indignation very well every day when he was in opposition and he drove a very honourable man out of the top job in the Oireachtas, the former Ceann Comhairle, John O'Donoghue. He took the high moral ground.