I begin by wishing seasons greetings to everyone in the Chamber. I echo the sentiments expressed in extending thanks to the staff, in particular, for their support during the year, and wish all of them a good break.

I will briefly raise the issue of Ryanair. As the House will be aware, a number of passengers are facing the prospect of strike action, which is totally avoidable but unfortunately is the consequence of Ryanair's horrendous attitude, in particular, towards workers and trade unions. There is no need for this strike to go ahead. The difficulty is that in society for years there have been parties, particularly on the right, such as Fine Gael, that like to fete Michael O'Leary and hold him up as a great captain of industry.

He pays his taxes.

He does but he does not recognise-----

Unlike a lot of them.

He does not recognise the right of workers to join and be represented by a trade union. That is a fundamental right.

I agree with Senator Gavan.

With respect - Senator Conway is a man I respect - one cannot have it both ways. If we believe in the right of workers to be represented by trade unions, if we believe in the right to collective bargaining, we should not be welcoming the likes of Michael O'Leary in to give a little dance and a speech to raise a few bob for the Fine Gael Party. We often hear that all of us believe in trade union rights. Let us put our names to it and state clearly to Ryanair that this is completely unacceptable and the airline needs to work with the workers and needs to accept the right to collective bargaining.

It also highlights the issue that Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe that still does not have a statutory right to collective bargaining. I ask the question when will we fundamentally address that issue, and is it one on which we can unite and work towards in this Chamber.

Hear, hear.