Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I would like to join Senator Bacik in welcoming the visit of the Vice President of China to Ireland between 18 and 20 February next. His arrival will be a big moment. He is tipped to be the next President of China. We need to explore our trade links with that country.

The main reason I am speaking is to ask the Leader to call on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, to make an urgent statement on Galway Airport. Bank of Ireland's decision to raid €1.1 million from the airport's account last week has put the airport in jeopardy and is likely to precipitate its liquidation. This morning, I visited 14 workers who staged a sit-in last night and are still there today because their statutory redundancy is up in the air. The reason is the airport must retain the moneys left in the account for corporate governance reasons. This is a very serious issue. Is this the way Bank of Ireland will do business in future? The action taken by the bank was unannounced. All loans were up to date and the directors of the airport were not informed in advance of the bank's action. I will write to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and the Committee of Public Accounts requesting that they invite representatives of Bank of Ireland before them to answer serious questions. The bank is causing major reputational damage to the country. We know the damage the banks have caused. Last week, Ireland was ranked in the top ten countries in which to do business. Investors are asking why they should invest in a country where a bank treats its customers in this manner.