Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is also a brand for many of our emigrants, and a symbol of who we are as a people and the manner in which we developed and were able to take on board independence and to sustain sovereignty. They are all big questions. One must ask whether the recession has killed that sense in us as a people. Are we frightened by the prospect that there might be greater competition in the aviation business? That is what is being said. I find it very difficult to understand that people who were capable of setting up a national airline and who showed the strength of character and commitment to ourselves as a people in control of our own destiny could after all of that arrive at a situation where we no longer have that tenacity of character. I suggest that if we are going to debate this issue, which we should debate because people want us to debate it, the first thing that should happen is for the report to go before a committee and that ample time should be given to examine it. I think when we start to unravel the report we will not be happy with the legal guarantees.