Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Leyden that the eyes of the people are on this House today. I congratulate the Leader on ensuring that we will have a full debate on the Water Services Bill and that it will not be foreshortened by the use of the guillotine. This is a worthy recognition of the important role the Seanad can play and I hope that the debate will be as useful as might be expected.

Senator Leyden also referred to Cuba. There are changes taking place in the world and some of the most significant of these are probably happening in Russia. The huge drop in the value of the rouble in recent weeks has been quite dramatic. I recall that approximately two months ago I highlighted the fact that the price of Brent oil had been reduced and I criticised the fact that evidence of this was not apparent in petrol stations. However, the reduction is now being passed on to motorists and at the petrol station closest to my home, the price currently stands at €1.35 per litre. While this is a dramatic reduction, I am not sure it reflects the overall drop in the price of Brent oil. If we want to maintain our competitiveness, we must ensure that energy costs continue to be reduced.

Senator Hayden referred to Dún Laoghaire. It was only a year ago that plans were announced for the development of a new terminal to allow cruise ships to dock in Dún Laoghaire. At present, such ships cannot dock there. This development is very important in the context of tourism. Some very good news is emanating from Shannon to the effect that the number of flights into and out of the airport has increased substantially since the change of management took place there. This is a reminder of the importance of giving individual units the freedom to do what they want rather than having them controlled from elsewhere. From the point of view of tourism, the entire Shannon area will benefit from the increase in flights to which I refer. Let us ensure that this continues to be the case.