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THEY’VE SHINED THEIR shoes, picked up fancy new stationery and are ready for more bickering and backslapping at Leinster House.
TDs returned to full-time hours in the Dáil today after 68 days of rest this afternoon.
We listened intently as Enda Kenny took to his feet for the first Leaders’ Question of the term from 2pm, and six TDs wore Repeal the Eighth sweaters into the Chamber.
Kenny is in situ but we’re still waiting on the rest of the deputies to file in.
The Ceann Comhairle is running through all the work that was done in the Chamber over the summer break. He’s delighted with the fresh surroundings.
Then he calls a happy Micheál Martin who says he’s happy it’s “all systems go” on Kildare Street.
Martin is taking issue with the lack of funding for Irish universities, pointing to the recent Cassells Report.
He says that more state funding is needed.
He asks whether the government is prepared to respond to the report ‘in a realistic way’ in Budget 2017?
Enda Kenny says the options in the Cassells Report are all for the medium-term, rather than the short-term.
He asks where the money is going to come from for these options. All three demand exchequer money.
We need a real discussion in the Oireachtas, he added.
Martin then comes back to the figures which show that in some areas of Dublin, just 7% of secondary school students go onto third level education, while in other locations, almost 100% of young people do.
“That gap in access to education will widen…” the Fianna Fáil warns.
Something has to change Taoiseach… it behooves us to act now, in the next two to three weeks.
“Otherwise we are ignoring the future of our county at our peril.”
Kenny admits that there is not enough money in this money to sort this situation but hopes to make a start on it to ensure education equality across the country.
He concedes that there cannot be €100 million made available for third-level institutions this year.
And the last word on education before Gerry Adams gets his turn:
MOJO KLAXON.
First as gaeilge, and then as béarla, Adams mentions Kenny’s now much-famous mojo.
He uses it as a kick-off point about Brexit.
“When your mojo wasn’t working so well, you quite rightly acknowledged that you faced unprecedented challenges,” he started.
“I didn’t like the result overall but I have to accept that it’s a democratic result of the electorate of the United Kingdom,” Kenny says on Brexit.
“I fear it will run on… it may not be as straightforward as people think,” he adds on when the UK will actually pull the plug.
Adams accuses the government of not having a detailed plan.
“There is no good outcome from this Brexit vote,” the Sinn Féin president added.
There will be an All-Ireland forum on Brexit, according to the Taoiseach.
It will include business and social leaders and the like.
Gerry Adams doesn’t seem too sold on the idea.
From our political reporter in the Dáil: Gino Kenny and Paul Murphy are wearing Repeal the Eighth jumpers in the Chamber.
All the AAA-PBP deputies have worn Repeal the Eighth jumpers, which have been made and sold to raise funds for the campaign.
Ruth Coppinger has taken the floor. She asks the Taoiseach whether the Constitution is the place to decide on personal issues and decisions.
“Will you make sure it’s a referendum to repeal and not amend the Eighth Amendment?” she concludes.
A quietly spoken Taoiseach is now responding to Coppinger.
He tells her that the Constitution belongs to the people, indicating that what she said about the Eighth Amendment being a tragedy as inaccurate in his opinion.
He says he has spoken to many people who were on the Repeal march last Saturday. They made their views very clear, he said.
Kenny describes the abortion issue as divisive and says the Citizens’ Assembly will listen to all stories in the debate.
“It’s not a black and white situation… the t-shirts might be,” Kenny adds.
He concedes that ‘given the nature of the divisive response’ to the issue that the people who will partake in the Citizens’ Assembly are brave.
I want to assure you that there is nothing being cooked up here. It’s a very straightforward democratic exercise… I look forward to the engagement.
Leaders’ questions concluded with that talk about the Eighth Amendment and Citizens’ Assembly of 99 people.
As we got onto Order of Business, Brid Smith stood up to try and bring up the issue of the Jobstown trials in the Children’s Court.
She was told by the Ceann Comhairle it was not the appropriate time to discuss the matter.
She argued it was a matter of national importance.
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I hope they never get that plane into service again. Its clearly badly designed and flawed. I fell that safety has not been prioritised by Boeing and its too late now for this plane. Scrap it and re design a proper safe airplane.
@Phillip Farrell: who in their rite mind would board it !
@Andrew O Grady: Anyone flying Ryanair whenever they’re delivered
@Phillip Farrell: In fairness, this wouldn’t be a design problem but quality control/staff briefings/shortcuts. But still doesn’t give me confidence.
@Phillip Farrell: feel
@Andrew O Grady: right
@Andrew O Grady: I’d happily board it once it’s been given the all clear. This plane is a game changer in the aviation business. Boeing have actually inadvertently made air travel even safer. The mistakes made in the computer software on the Max has ensured that the bar regarding safety has increased substantially.
@james dimaggio: Agree, but judging by this latest issue now the production line seems to have problems.
@james dimaggio:
Same.
The thing is, this has all happened before in the last with planes we’re all using today.
@james dimaggio: fair play to you but not one for me !
@Dean: good point dean. I think Oleary dropping the ball here. There’s a ton of people who’ll fly with a different airline, pay more for it to just not board this plane.
I think it’s time Ryanair tore up their contract with Boeing and use airbus.they are better safer and keeps jobs in Europe building airbus
@nicknack: Boeing have a better safety record than Airbus. They also have a lot more aircraft in the sky. Aside from the 737 MAX what other Boeing aircraft can you advise against flying in?
@mcdb06: the 787 didn’t go smoothly either. Although those issues were resolved pretty quickly. I also seem to recall a number of issues with the A380 when it was released. Didn’t Quantas ground it’s fleet?
@mcdb06: hahaha yes aside from this model of boeing plane that staff were warning wasn’t safe – ended up crashing killing hundreds of innocent civilians – skimped on safety by using printed manuals and offering the tech update for pilots at extra cost to airlines – can you give @mcdb06 some more specific models from the boeing company ??? because he is having a hard time understanding why people might be skeptical or concerned about Boeing after this clusterf*** by the US aircraft maker.
@Dave Hammond: So you cant give me examples aside from the 737 MAX that would make you think Boeing have a poor safety record? What about other 737 variants? Or 747? Or 757? Or 767? Or 777? The 787 had issues with batteries which have since been rectified. Care to enlighten me?
@nicknack: that’s not going to happen. Ryanair have ordered 135 of them. Instead Ryanair plan to rebrand them .. they are going to refer the Plane when it’s finally certified to fly as Boeing 737-8200. You will see no mention of “737 MAX”… IAG who own BA & Iberia & Aer Lingus have ordered 200 planes they also intend to rebrand ….
In fact Donald Trump himself , the King of Branding for such pigs in poke as Trump University , Trump Airlines etc … suggested this idea via a tweet in April 2019 ….
Boeing 737Max was the fastest selling commercial plane ever , and secured 5000 orders before it was grounded..so it’s going to be very difficult for them to scrap it ..
but after it re-enters service….Airlines are going struggle to get people to fly on it for a year or two !!
@mcdb06: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/boeing-737-max-foreign-object-debris-found-stored-planes-2020-2 Same issue on the 787 Dreamliner production line. They obviously didn’t learn anything.
@mcdb06: the 738 classic lost about 3 planes to rudder hard over and nearly lost 2 more to it too. With a flaw in the design of the rudder pcu.
They tried to cover that up too but only for a father who lost a child on one of the flights dug deeper than the the ntsb investigators
@Todd Unctuous: 737 classic*
@mcdb06: enlighten you ? Why would I bother to try ? You want to go on some merry dance setting up a false equivalence about other models – maybe you should go and familiarise yourself with the details that have emerged from boeing internal emails among its own staff – there is clearly a cultural problem in the organisation – they were disgracefully trying to basically monetise safety features like having the ops manual available in easy to use formats for extra cost – so spare me the bullshi8t about other models – the problems of confidence and trust are well documented -trying to distract from their shambolic management in some lame attempt to spin or excuse boeing shoddy behaviour -especially when it led to hundreds of deaths – who do you think you are.
@Dave Hammond: Spare me the mock outrage. The fact is you’ve shown you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. The 737 MAX variant has been a shambles. But aside from that Boeing have produced some the safest, most reliable and longest serving passenger aircraft in the world. You make a sweeping statement about it being a company that only cares about money. So why does it have such a good record for the last 60 years? Muppet
Scrap them for metal at this stage!
Banks to give $10bn bailout to Boeing, nothing to the families of the dead
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/23/boei-j23.html
@PV Nevin: insurance companies will pay to the dead, not the banks.
@Jim Buckley Barrett:
I think they already have
Just deserts those people arent around anymore cause boeing cut corners
@Matthew O’Kane ☘️✊#BERNIEBEATSTRUMP: unlike yourself!
@Matthew O’Kane: are you just trying to get exposure for your fantasy hashtag?
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: here now its just a hashtag
@Matthew O’Kane: Multiple accounts now?
Ultimately it is greed that has brought Boeing down. They had a good reputation and produced some cracking safe planes but this whole 737 max fiasco stinks of greed and cost cutting. If these are ever released, I will not fly on one and yes I understand Ryanair will probably be flying them.
Amazing how far Boeing have fallen (no pun intended). Once the leading manufacturer of planes in the world to what is essentially a toxic brand.
@wondery have a great pot cast in their business wars series that tells the story of Boeing vs airbus from the beginning right up to last year. Highly recommend it.
More woe for Boeing? Morelike woe for anyone flying on a Boeing plane!
Scary & several problem Boeing 737
@Brian Flavin: The 737 MAX is only one variant of the 737 which has been around for decades. The 737 has been one of the most reliable aircraft in history.
People have short memories. Earlier variants of the B737 (200 and 300 series) had a rudder actuator issue which led to the loss of 5 aircraft (317 deaths) and 3 serious incidents before Boeing came up with a fix.
@Mark Healy: the 737-200 was introduced in the 1960s. They’ve clearly solved the issues and improved the aircraft in subsequent variants. It would hardly be flying in any capacity if it was a fundamentally flawed aircraft
Now that I check, I see rudder issue actually applied to all variants. The directive in 2007 involved the installation of a redesigned control system to all of the 737 fleet. Yes, they have an excellent safety record, and I’ve no problem flying in one, but not flawless.
That’s some debris….tools or rags left behind in fuel tanks. Never heard the like of it!
Famous second-hand car dealer Arthur Daley used recommend inserting an oil rag to keep a rattling gear box quite, at least until cheque was cashed.
Once again a huge corporation has treated regulators and the wider population with contempt all to make quick money, they duped the FAA into thinking this plane was safe and look what it has cost them, lives lost, company running into trouble, employees and 3rd party contractors facing job losses. This plane would have revolutionized air travel if it had of been done properly, the whole organisation needs to be restructured, this was just not good enough and with the release of all those emails via the Fed Committee it just shows how toxic Boeing are
I say a prayer everytime I book a flight that the plane is not a Boeing! Profit over safety seems to be their driving force
The Daily podcast on Boeing is terrifying. Whistleblower staff being reassigned off the production line after reporting exactly this – loose dangerous debris, in the electrics in the belly of the plane too. The company knows and is rushing to hit deadlines. People should be charged. Crazy scary stuff.
That’s where I left my socket set.. fack anyway
737 Max is a deeply flawed airframe that is attempting to use fighter aircraft technology to stabilize it’s instability ~~ I would not get on one !
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