SEANAD REPORT:WARNING THAT the Lisbon Treaty referendum would be defeated if the farming community and rural dwellers did not support it, Denis O'Donovan (FF) said he had been disappointed with the turnout at meetings that had been held in his constituency to promote a positive result. A debate on agriculture and the World Trade Organisation talks was needed to enable voters to make up their minds on Lisbon, he stressed.
It beggared belief that a senior member of the Irish Coast Guard service had claimed that the Valentia rescue co-ordination centre could be a target for Osama bin Laden, Mark Daly (FF) said. It was incredible that this new reason had been given as to why Valentia should be shut down.
Reacting to laughter from Joe O’Toole (Ind), Mr Daly said he felt the same way. This individual had given a flippant excuse about a terrorist attack. He was also the person who had contributed to a report that would close Valentia and suggest that its function would be more secure in Shannon.
“I am sure that Osama bin Laden is not looking at Valentia as the Achilles’ heel of western civilisation, and that if he puts it out of action he will cause the collapse of the civilised world.”
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said he was not prepared to open up competition in bus transport if it led to a lowering of employment conditions.
He was responding to a call by Fine Gael spokesman Paschal Donohoe for the Dublin Transport Authority Bill to be amended to enable the new body to issue licences under the 1932 Act for public transport operators operating within the Greater Dublin Area. The proposed amendment was defeated. Mr Dempsey said that when there was talk about competition, he had a concern.
“I know from speaking to unions and to workers in Bus Éireann and Bus Átha Cliath that we must have a level playing field. I believe that if we were to throw the market open or even move in that direction, the one thing that we must guard against is that the competition we talk about is not based on the backs of people who work in transport.
“I do not want private companies coming in that will pay less than minimum wages and be able to compete with a public transport company on that basis,” he said.