John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Respectfully, I remind the Leader of a few debates that we have requested here in the House over recent weeks. I know he does his utmost to get the relevant Minister to attend. I ask him to reconsider the following matters and put them on the schedule at the earliest juncture. The first matter is what I believe is the abuse of our bail laws and the ongoing issue of reoffending and serious criminality by people out on bail. It is an issue that needs to be addressed. We held a referendum on the matter but its outcome has not been adhered to. The second matter is the future of library services across the country. The third, as other colleagues have mentioned, is the exorbitant cost to the HSE and the taxpayer of medicines and drugs, which in some instances are prohibiting seriously ill people from receiving the medicines they require. Those issues could do with an airing and a robust debate here in the House.

As a primary issue, I support Senator Sean Barrett in his ongoing concerns regarding what is really an attempt to impose a gagging order or have a chilling effect on public discourse and parliamentary debate with regard to the proposed sale of Aer Lingus to British Airways. It is wrong for officials of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to decline to attend a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. The officials have a lot to offer in the debate. We are not asking them to disclose anything confidential. We are not asking them to show their hand. We are not asking them to show any bias or preference in the matter. We merely want them to make available to the elected members of the committee the factual position, the legalities and the various technical details of the proposed sale.

This House spoke with one voice on at least two occasions last week. We are unanimously opposed the prospect of selling off Aer Lingus. The fact that British Airways has told us it is now willing to afford the chambers of commerce of Cork, Shannon and Dublin a veto on the Heathrow slots-----