Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for the presentations. I opposed the privatisation of Aer Lingus, which has been a disaster. Many promises were made, including that the Government would retain a figure of 20% and that nobody would be able to take over Aer Lingus without the Government's approval. Now we see that they were not true and that promises were not worth the paper they were written on. I cannot see how anybody can make a promise about the 24 Heathrow Airport slots. Like promises, managers come and go. Many of the senior and executive managers are ready for a big windfall of approximately €30 million, some of whom have a vested interest in selling it off. What are the delegates' opinions on how the people concerned got into this position and the deals that were done?

There are 3,900 workers, of whom 1,200 could lose their jobs. Where would the jobs be lost? Would they be among pilots and ground staff or a combination of both? There would probably be a knock-on effect on ancillary airport services. Regarding footfall in Aer Lingus, tourism figures have been increasing constantly. There is an extra terminal at Dublin Airport and passenger numbers have increased. Would a sale have a detrimental effect and what would be the effects if the slots, particularly at Heathrow Airport, were to be used to provide services elsewhere? It is very likely that would happen. How much control would we have over whether the slots should be switched to provide services to different airports? Would a sale break European competition laws on the creation of a monopoly?

When Ryanair tried to buy out with its 29% or so, we were told it could not because it would constitute a monopoly. Does this compare to that situation?