Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely share the Senator's feelings in this regard. Some of my own constituents are in the same position as the people he describes. We have a shared experience of the feelings of the people who have been wronged. If there was reckless trading in the case, it is a matter for other authorities and the Senator makes a valid point in that regard.

There was a failure of another training college but that was more than 20 years ago. At a policy level we are considering the introduction of a bonding system where if this happens again, at least the customers and trainees would be protected. I do not accept that the IAA has been involved in light touch regulation and it is important to ponder the point. If the IAA had discovered that the company was in trouble financially, what could it have done?

All it could have done was close the company and told it that it could no longer trade and the people affected would be in exactly the same position they are in now except perhaps for the one or two who may have paid full fees in the past week or two. When it comes to bodies that are licensed, regulated or approved by a Government body, we should bear in mind that all the airlines are licensed or approved by government. Radio stations, all our public and private bus companies, hauliers, driving schools, private colleges and other institutions are all in some way regulated, licensed or approved by government. It would be very reckless of me as a Minister to put the Irish taxpayer on the hook for the failure of companies such as those.