Seanad report: Mr Terry Leyden (FF) claimed that The Irish Times had "suppressed" his reference in the House on Tuesday to the "outrageous attack" by the chief executive of Ryanair on the Taoiseach.
"I am appalled that the editor, Geraldine Kennedy, would suppress a report from this House because I attacked Michael O'Leary. I know that there is enormous clout in so far as advertising is concerned.
"This advertisement in the Irish Independent cost in the region of €50,000. I assure the House that Ryanair shareholders - I am not one - are deeply concerned about the abuse of Mr O'Leary's power and the spending of money in a wrong fashion. I hope the Revenue Commissioners will not allow this type of advertisement to be charged against the profits of the company.
"The advertisements being placed in relation to the second terminal at Dublin airport constitute an appalling attack on the Taoiseach and democracy. The use of bully-boy tactics to try to blackmail the Government into granting the second terminal to Ryanair will not achieve results," he added.
Dr Martin Mansergh (FF) said that his party colleague Mr Leyden had referred to the advertisements of a person whose name they were not supposed to mention in the House.
"No-one could accuse the person we are not allowed to name as being incapable of answering back and defending himself. However, colleagues should note that the more we splutter with outrage, the more we please and encourage the gentleman in question.
Contributing to statements on the Forfás consumer pricing report, Dr Mansergh said competition had been very beneficial in telecommunciations and airlines, but we needed to be careful.
"There has been a great deal of talk about privatising the ESB, but if increasing competition in this area is to mean much higher energy prices, we should question what we are doing."