The Tánaiste has failed, yet again, to secure jobs for north Dublin and Meath. We are now in the realm of excuses. It cannot happen because there is a contract between Aer Lingus and DAA. It cannot happen because there is a 20 year lease. It cannot happen because DAA is in there. It cannot happen because DAA effectively runs the country and the Government is not in charge.

Yesterday I asked the Taoiseach to intervene in the matter. He had no problem intervening when the banks came calling to the Government's doors. The red carpet was rolled out and he intervened to ensure they were given a guarantee. He also intervened when recapitalisation was made available and to see that legislation was drafted within days. In this case, however, all of a sudden we cannot do anything because it is down to failure by excuse. DAA has in effect given two fingers to 300 high skilled jobs for 300 families in north Dublin and Meath because the Government failed to secure them. The Taoiseach could have intervened.

His Government owns 100% of DAA and 25% of Aer Lingus. Ryanair owns a further 29% of the latter. He can intervene, as he did in other cases, to secure these jobs. I ask him, before these 300 jobs go across the sea, whether he will intervene today to do what the Tánaiste said she would do in terms of pulling out all the stops to secure these high technology jobs and their incomes for 300 families in north Dublin and Meath. He should prove he is Taoiseach and in charge by putting it up to them.

Hear, hear.

It may be news to Deputy Kenny that neither Governments nor State bodies can act unlawfully.

They cannot act.

That is news to me.

The Government, as owner of DAA, is like any other shareholder in that it cannot direct a company in which it owns shares to breach a contract. To do so would amount to inducing a breach of contract and would be unlawful and render the Government liable to damages to Aer Lingus for all losses suffered. Let us put a few facts on the table.

About time.

The licence agreement is a binding contractual agreement for which a competition was held. It was contracted in November. Ryanair did not compete to take the hangar which it contends will play such a part in creating these jobs. We can create the 300 jobs at Dublin Airport. Hangar three, which is similar to the one in Prestwick, is available. We can build a facility similar to the Prestwick hangar on the northern and western sides of the runways, which would not affect the crossing of the runways in terms of heavy maintenance.

How long will that take?

Hangar four, which can accommodate four narrow bodied aircraft at one time, is vacant. Hangar six is the 24,000 sq. m. facility held under licence by Aer Lingus, which requires it for its wide bodied aircraft.

It is empty.

No other hangar in Dublin Airport can take wide bodied aircraft. All the other hangars can take the aircraft in question.

Excuses, excuses.

Hangar six is not being used.

Allow the Taoiseach to continue without interruption.

These are the facts. If 6,000 sq. m. is required at Prestwick to create half the jobs, as Ryanair outlined last week, is it too much too assume that a similar floor area would be suitable to create the remaining jobs here? Two hangars are available at present for this work. Given that hangars one and two were subject to negotiation between Ryanair and DAA, it is not a case of the airline never having dealings with the authority.

The issue is that Mr. Michael O'Leary wants hangar six to be provided to Ryanair. It is not possible to breach those binding contracts. Deputy Kenny might think he can walk into Office as Taoiseach and breach contracts but he cannot. He would induce a breach of contracts and would in any event be stopped with an injunction by those who have the benefit of the licence agreement.

There is provision in the contract to do it.

Deputy Reilly, allow the Taoiseach to reply without interruption.

Put the taxpayer on the hook.

These are the facts.

The Government is not even trying.

Allow the Taoiseach to continue without interruption.

I make it clear that this Government is anxious to facilitate, in every way we possibly can, the provision of those jobs for Dublin Airport. Two hangars are available at present and we are prepared to build another one. However, hangar six, which is 24,000 sq. m. or four times the size of the facility in Prestwick, is under licence to another company. DAA has a commercial mandate and those agreements stand. If it is Deputy Kenny's view that one can simply walk in and tear up contracts, then he should be prepared to take the consequences legally. Second, it is a provision in that licence that 24 months notice must be given.

It is 12 months.

I am sorry, but I have seen the licence agreement. The Deputy might not have seen it. Twenty four months notice has to be given, not 12.

Who signed that agreement?

It was signed between the DAA and Aer Lingus because they are the parties to the agreement.

Did the Taoiseach put any spin on that?

Deputy Connaughton, please. The Taoiseach should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Let us have the facts of the situation. The facts are as I have set them out.

The Government is going to lose the jobs.

We want to deal with this matter. We want to proceed to work with Ryanair, but a landlord cannot eject a tenant where there is no breach of contract on the basis of a licensed agreement signed in November 2009.

The last contract was in August 2009.

Ask Aer Lingus to lease it on.

That is another reply washed in failure. I understand that the Tánaiste was 15 minutes late for the meeting yesterday. She was not 15 minutes late for her own job interview.

Because I was in the House.

She was in the House.

Three hundred jobs are at stake.

That is all bluster.

Go tell that to the families in north Dublin and County Meath. Go out and tell them what you are "ráiméising" about in this House.

Look after Shannon.

The Taoiseach is well aware that he owns 100% of the DAA. He is well aware of his part ownership of Aer Lingus. I do not know what discussions have taken place with Aer Lingus but I am quite sure that it being a reputable company also, would want to safeguard and secure jobs in the general region of Dublin and Dublin Airport. Aer Lingus would have an interest in securing that too.

I do not know whether the Taoiseach had any discussions with Aer Lingus, but the lease agreements all state that if the licensor, which is the DAA, requires at any time the licensed area, or any part for the purpose of the aircraft operation or airport development at Dublin Airport, the licensee shall yield to the licensor the full, free and vacant possession of the licensed area in the event of the licensor so exercising its right to relocate the licensed area in accordance with schedule 2.

Subject to 24 months notice.

SR Technics did not give 24 months notice.

Aer Lingus could be relocated out of hangar six if the DAA wishes to use hangar six for aircraft maintenance or airport development. They are the terms of the lease that apply in all cases with contracts with the DAA. I do not accept for a minute that it is not possible to save those jobs. If the Taoiseach believes Michael O'Leary is bluffing, then call his bluff——

There is the leader. Enda is being himself.

——and write the contract so that if he does not do what he says he will do, he will hand it back to the lessee, in this case the IDA. I am sure we will not see leaflets delivered all over north Dublin with explanations by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste for those workers on why the Government failed yet again to secure 300 high-tech jobs in the interests of this industry, region and the country. It is not too late yet; those jobs have not gone across the sea.

If the Taoiseach is supposed to be in charge then he should get out of his seat in Government Buildings and prove it — invite Mr. O'Leary in today and personally intervene, as he did with the banks. He wrote a cheque on behalf of the people for €54 billion for NAMA. Write that cheque, intervene and secure those jobs for Dublin and Meath and prove himself to be the Taoiseach. When I get the chance, when I am over there, I will intervene.

Hear, hear.

Deputy Kenny is being himself all right. Silly.

Watch out for the daggers in your back.

When Deputy Dermot Ahern is on the backbenches——

Richard.

A Cheann Comhairle——

Has Deputy Dermot Ahern planted any trees recently?

Poor George. What did you do to him?

The Taoiseach should be allowed to speak without interruption, please.

This is a serious matter.

It is.

The Taoiseach failed to intervene.

I do not know who the last effort was intended to impress but the termination of a licence for the sole purpose of giving a hangar to Ryanair does not constitute operational development reasons. Even if it did, one would still be required to give two years notice. They are the terms of the licence.

Ring Bertie, he will find a way around it.

If, in that event——

The Taoiseach is saying that SR Technics——

Please, Deputy McEntee.

If, in that event, there was a definition for operational development reasons——

SR Technics——

Deputy McEntee, please.

The Taoiseach is saying that, with all his skills, he cannot negotiate this deal.

——which these present circumstances do not constitute, but even if there were, as contemplated by the agreement, we would be required to compensate Aer Lingus. We would also be required to give it facilities similar to what we were asking it to leave.

They should not mess with the Government.

That is what one does. Deputy's Kenny's philosophy is that one does not mess with the Government.

Correct.

The Government cannot mess with contracts that have a legal validity.

The DAA is giving the Government the two fingers. It is in charge.

Why was the contract not changed?

The Government is not above the law. The point I am trying to make to Deputy Kenny is that one cannot simply walk out to Dublin Airport, tear up a licence agreement, tell the existing tenant to leave in order to facilitate this particular requirement, as if it is the only viable option available. It is not the only viable option available.

Tell the DAA to get stuffed.

We want to protect jobs. We want to provide that facility. There are two hangars in existence at the moment, similar to what has been sufficient in Prestwick to bring 200 jobs there to deal with that issue, so where is the rationale and logic behind Deputy Kenny's position that says go out and tear up agreements——

It is about 300 jobs. That is the rationale.

Deputy Kenny, please.

——and make sure that this can happen? It can happen without tearing up any agreements.

The Taoiseach will not intervene because he does not care.

Deputy Kenny.

Excuse me Deputy.

Let us hear the Taoiseach out.

I outlined to Deputy Kenny the issues that relate to this request.

The Taoiseach was not long acting on the banks' behalf.

I have made that point. In this matter or any other matter I will act, and have always acted, properly, appropriately and in every way I can to bring forward a positive outcome.

I did not suggest anything else.

Deputy Kenny cannot suggest, as he is trying to do, that all of that can be set aside. It cannot be set aside, no more than it could be set aside if Mr. O'Leary was the incumbent and the roles were reversed.

But it is an empty shed.

Let us be clear, in Prestwick, Scotland a 6,000 m2 hangar is being constructed to provide for 200 heavy maintenance jobs. Hangar three, which is of similar size at 5,000 m2 is available. Hangar four, which is 8,000 m2 is also available.

Every option but the one sought.

Deputy Durkan, please.

If those two do not fit the bill, another hangar can be built to the appropriate specifications. We are prepared to do whatever is required.

Excuses.

But we are not in a position, nor would Deputy Kenny be in a position were he in power, to sign off on agreements——

I would get all those people around the table.

——and not be prepared to take the consequences, legal and financial, that would come with that.

Deputy Kenny is only a mouthpiece.

It is a good day for you.

I call Deputy Gilmore.

The Taoiseach always has an excuse. There is always a reason it cannot be done.

That is right.

It can be done.

It can be done.

As President Clinton once said in a different context, when it comes to jobs I am afraid the Government never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. There was no contract last August when this company started talking to the Government. There was no contract last April when the staff of SRT had a plan to develop that business and to create jobs. There is a contract now. I wonder who approved a contract——

Hear, hear.

——with a 24 months notice clause. This is not just about SRT, and it is not just about Michael O'Leary.

Hear, hear.

This is about jobs, and the fact that the Government is not addressing the jobs crisis. The Taoiseach said he cannot act unlawfully. The problem is he is not acting at all. Before SRT he did nothing to save the jobs in Waterford. We have probably——

That is completely untrue.

The Government did nothing. The jobs were lost in Waterford Glass.

It shows that Deputy Gilmore knows nothing.

Deputy Gilmore should be allowed to speak without interruption please.

The jobs were lost in Waterford Glass and if we had back——

That is not true and Deputy Gilmore knows it.

Deputy Gilmore should be allowed to speak without interruption.

——the €60 million Deputy Cullen wasted on electronic voting machines it could have been used to keep jobs in Waterford and keep an iconic brand in this country.

Deputy Gilmore would not fill a good coat hanger.

We could store the voting machines in the empty hangar.

You did not deliver. He did not save the jobs in Waterford. It is the same all over. It is the same in this case.

Deputy Gilmore should address his remarks to the Chair.

Deputies Gilmore and Kenny come in here every day playing games all the time. That is all they do.

Order.

Throw the Minister out.

Minister Cullen, please. I invite Deputy Gilmore to address his remarks through the Chair.

In any decent Government, Deputy Cullen would no longer be a Minister.

That is original. This is kindergarten economics.

Throw the Minister out.

Minister Cullen, please.

Let us follow this. The Minister wasted——

The Oireachtas made that decision.

Order from the Minister.

The Minister made that decision. I was there.

I did not make the decision.

I was at——

Will the Minister please refrain from engaging with the Deputy?

Will the Ceann Comhairle name the Minister? He is not being named, unlike Deputy Charles Flanagan yesterday.

The Minister spent——

The Deputy should address his remarks though the Chair.

Will the Ceann Comhairle name the Minister? There is one rule for one side and another rule for the other.

I am——

Throw the Minister out.

Deputy Gilmore is in possession.

Will the Ceann Comhairle name the Minister? There is one rule for one side and another rule for the other.

If I were Deputy Cullen, I would change my tablets.

Will the Ceann Comhairle name the Minister? Where is the consistency?

Will Deputy Hayes stop interrupting the Deputy in possession?

The Minister is interrupting.

Could we allow the Deputy in possession to have the floor please?

The Deputy is in possession and the Minister is possessed.

The Minister wasted €60 million of taxpayer's money buying electronic voting machines, which have never been used, which cannot be used and which are now in storage. I recall the day well. He did that by taking a decisive ministerial decision. It is amazing how this incompetent, wasteful Government can take decisive decisions doing daft things but the Government parties can take no decision when it comes to trying to save the jobs of people in SRT, Cadburys, Waterford Glass, Dell and other businesses that cannot get money from the banks into which they have put billions of euro of taxpayer's money. The basic problem in this country is we have a Government that does not care about jobs or people who are losing their jobs and it has not lifted its finger to protect jobs in any of these businesses.

Except their own.

They have spent 12 years in Government wasting money like the Minister, Deputy Cullen, wasted it. That is the reason the country is in the mess it is in. They are incompetent and they are not capable of getting us out of it.

Does the Deputy think that rhetoric will get him elected? He does not have a hope.

Where was the question?

The Taoiseach, without interruption, please.

I do not know what the question was but I will do the best I can to answer.

The Government parties look a little like Ryanair. They do not know what they want so they cannot give it to the company.

The Government and its predecessors over the past 12 years have created more jobs in this country than any other.

And it has lost more.

In the midst of a recession, we are doing everything necessary with or without the Opposition's support to make sure we get our public finances back in order, bring more competitiveness into the economy and see an export performance by this country that will get us back on the road to recovery.

The Government got us into this mess in the first place.

That is what we will do.

The Government told us the fundamentals were sound.

With regard to the specific matter raised initially by Deputy Gilmore about SR Technics and hangar 6, a number of parties at the time SRT closed down — I said this yesterday — considered the proposal from the workers but it was not viable at the end of the day.

Yes, it was.

It was not.

The Government could not have done a little more work on it.

There was a competition. Michael O'Leary and Ryanair for whatever reason, which is their own business, did not compete for the hangar, seek ownership of the hangar or seek a lease for it last September, even though they suggested they needed the hangar to go ahead with a heavy line maintenance operation. However, they never negotiated and they never contacted the DAA about that hangar. They contacted the authority in the past about hangars 1 and 2 and they are using them.

Ryanair knew it was available and did not apply for it while another company required it because it is the only hangar that can facilitate the maintenance it required for wide bodied aircraft. Other hangars exist in Dublin Airport to do this job. They are vacant and available.

So is hangar 6.

That is the truth. If we are talking about getting the job done, we have hangars 3 and 4 to do the job. If Ryanair wants to build, as it has done at Prestwick Airport, we will do that as well and, therefore, it is not true to say we are indifferent to trying to protect or create jobs; quite the contrary. However, this or any Government cannot engage in breaking a licence agreement, for which they are consequences, and we would be injuncted from doing so if we even attempted to by the parties who hold the licence.

Has the Taoiseach talked to them?

What about the Government's cronies on the board? Can Ministers not talk to them?

These parties have made it clear that they require the property for this purpose. That is why they leased it.

What is the plan for it?

That is the situation. We must deal with the issue as it is rather than as others would like it to be. There are facilities available in Dublin Airport to do this job if there is a willingness on behalf of the promoter of the project to sit down and negotiate that through. That is what we can do. I agree with Deputy Gilmore jobs should be the issue. If that is the case, then alternative facilities are available to do this in a way that allows us to proceed. That is the sensible, logical thing do to and that is what I am asking people to do.

The Taoiseach appears to have become an expert on the size of hangars overnight. This is not about hangars 1, 2, 6 or whatever because his responsibility in this is the strategic importance of this particular business. Last year when SRT decided it was transferring its operations to Switzerland, the Taoiseach needed to say to himself — which he did not do — as we said to him at the time that this was a strategic business that we could keep. We are an island and aircraft maintenance and servicing is something we should do and we should not lose. We have built up a skilled pool of labour at Dublin Airport that can be reassembled to maintain this business and the maximum number of jobs. The Taoiseach did not take that approach. He should never have ended up in a situation where it is now about the size of various hangars and the terms of various contracts. The Government's job was to say there is a strategic business with sustainable jobs that can be saved and people can be put to work. The Government parties missed the time. They lost all of last year and they have ended up at the 11th hour with a gun to their heads, flapping around between one hangar and the next because they left it too late.

It is the Taoiseach and the Government's responsibility to resolve this issue. A total of 200 jobs have been lost and potentially another 300 jobs could be lost. The test for the Taoiseach, to which we will return, is whether he will ensure the 300 jobs will be available at Dublin Airport. How he does that is a matter for the Government. If he has boxed himself into a corner, that is his problem but his responsibility to the people whose families and livelihoods depend on those jobs is to secure them. Will he do that?

I have just explained to the Deputy three viable ways in which we are prepared to do it. The other party is saying it wants possession of a hangar in the leasehold interest of a rival company. I have explained how we can do this and how we should proceed but the suggestion by the Opposition is that we should forget about the law and it does not matter about agreements——

Tear up the agreement.

Use the law as an excuse.

Tear up the agreement. "You can do it" is the answer on the other side of the House.

It is about 95 people working in a hangar in which 1,100 used to work. How is that useful?

Deputy Reilly, please.

This is the sort of debate that people who care about jobs are supposed to take seriously.

The Taoiseach explained his plan earlier.

The Taoiseach has made an unwarranted assertion.

I ask Deputy Kenny to sit down.

We heard what the Deputy said.

We have to proceed on the principle that whoever is in possession is allowed to speak. I ask the Deputy to resume his seat.

The Taoiseach says he is not going to break the law and the Government will not break the law, and I respect that.

If I may proceed, a Cheann Comhairle——

Yet we have a motion of confidence in a Cabinet Minister who submitted a false sworn affidavit.

I would like to continue. The Deputy has had three chances to make sense and he has not made sense yet.

I ask the Deputy to resume his seat.

He has had three chances to make sense and he has not made sense yet.

The Taoiseach has won the prize for jargon more than once.

Deputy Reilly, please.

Whether he does it in a loud voice or a low one, the absence of content is obvious.

The law seems to be subjective here.

I have outlined to the House the means by which this problem can be solved. From what I am hearing in the supplementary questions, there is an acknowledgement that the Government is not in a position to break the law.

Nobody is asking the Government to do that.

It would not have to break the law.

It is not in a position to have bodies under its aegis induce a breach of contract.

That is what the Taoiseach is saying.

That is the situation.

Did the Taoiseach ever hear of negotiation?

The Government is erecting a road block to taking action.

If people want to give an impression, as Deputy Kenny has tried to do, that it is only a matter of walking out to the airport——

That is not what I am saying.

——taking out Aer Lingus, putting in Ryanair and away we go, I am sorry, but the world is not like that.

Why will the Taoiseach not answer the question?

The Taoiseach without interruption, please.

It might have been like that in Deputy Kenny's day, but when it comes to doing the serious business that must be done here, it is not like that.