Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Further to Deputy Dooley's comments on Shannon Airport, we lost our airport in Galway, albeit not under the Minister's watch. The PSO was removed and no carrier is willing to fly to the airport in its absence. People in Galway also consider Shannon as a local airport and its flights to Heathrow make it an important hub for the west of Ireland. I acknowledge that the Minister is constrained in what he can say but does he have the power to use our shareholding in Aer Lingus to make it a condition of sale that the slots in Shannon cannot be disposed of? We have a minority shareholding of 25%. Is that sufficient to give the Minister power to block the sale of the slots?