Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

I join my colleagues in deploring the awful job losses we heard about this morning in Aviva Insurance. All Members must deplore what we have seen happening recently not only in Aviva Insurance, but in many other companies in this country. The last people who appear to be given consideration when major decisions are taken are the employees. Consider the means by which employees find out what is happening. They hear about it in the media or read about it on Twitter. Unfortunately, I had the unpleasant task of being involved in the closure of an enterprise some years ago. At all times the main consideration was ensuring that the employees were the first to know and were made aware of what their entitlements would be. It is particularly regrettable that a company which we regarded as our own, which has been established for almost 100 years in this country and has a stadium named after it, would treat people in this way. I ask that we have a discussion with the Minister about the Aviva Insurance situation and about how some of the multinationals are conducting their business in this country.

Will the Leader arrange a discussion with the Minister for Justice and Equality about a report in the newspapers this morning relating to the involvement of organised crime in smuggling cigarettes into this country? It is believed that many people who were involved in the drugs trade have switched to smuggling cigarettes because, first, one is less likely to get caught and, second, if one is caught, the penalties are far smaller. Only 34 people, a startling figure, have been prosecuted for cigarette smuggling in this country despite the fact that hundreds of millions of euro in revenue have been lost.