Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

I rise again to ask the Leader to make time available, today if possible, for the Minister for Transport, Deputy Varadkar, to attend the House for a debate on the trainee pilot debacle. We must address the issues that have confronted these students who would prefer to be doing their pilot training in Florida or elsewhere rather than picketing Leinster House today with their families. It is a disgrace. Has the Minister discussed the matter with the Garda Síochána and, if so, has he considered bringing in the fraud squad? I have heard from reliable sources that a month before the situation became impossible in Florida, and when the Florida Institute of Technology called off the training programme because it was owed over $1.5 million, sums of money were accepted by the company concerned. Where is the corporate governance involved here?

As the Leader said yesterday, the Minister did respond to me but his response was like a Cesc FÀbregas pass - the ball went a long way. I raised 15 questions and with all due respect, most of the Minister's response was to defend the role of Enterprise Ireland. I have no problem with its role but the stark reality is that when I raised this matter twice last week and called for a vote, my colleagues on the Government benches decided to obey the Whip and vote down my proposals for an emergency debate.

These young people want to complete their training at no extra cost to them or their families. I am deeply concerned that there has been deception and fraudulent conversion of money that was paid over in good faith in recent months. The IAA should have known there were problems and even if it did, its light-touch regulation let it down and not for the first time. The Taoiseach is attending the House later today but I am appealing for a debate on the trainee pilot situation. I am therefore proposing, for the third time, an amendment to the Order of Business to invite the Minister, Deputy Varadkar - or if he is not available then another senior Minister, perhaps the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn - to explain what has gone wrong.

It is a shameful state of affairs that our own students have been forced to picket Leinster House having lost substantial sums of money. It is a disgrace and is a shame on our heads. We should have an emergency debate on it today. I have been seeking this for almost three weeks and have been given the push-off or the long pass like Cesc FÀbregas, the great Spanish midfielder. I have been getting no answers but these students deserve answers today.