Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of that and I thank the Chairman. I could not afford to travel by air from London to Dublin because it was the most expensive route in the world due to the operation of a cartel. Would that be the outcome if IAG bought Aer Lingus? In fact, consolidation has proven that the consumer loses out, internationally, because prices go up. Do the witnesses believe the most profitable route in the world would come under severe threat in terms of access for people both from outside of Ireland into Ireland and for those who wish to leave Ireland? In this case I am thinking more about income generated from tourism.

I am glad that Mr. Cullen injected a certain note of reality into the recent history of Aer Lingus. However, I will not discuss whether privatisation was good, bad or indifferent. Before he answered I was asking myself the question where Aer Lingus might be today in light of all that happened. The following nationally owned airlines are no longer with us - Sabena, Iberia, Alitalia and Swissair. They are all gone yet we now have a thriving business which Mr. Reidy mentioned. I accept the sincerity of what he put forward and his presentation but it has a certain degree of naivety, and I am surprised to use the word "naivety". He more or less inferred that he would accept a takeover if certain guarantees were given from a private company that in my opinion is nothing more than a predator hovering over a very successful airline.

I wish to ask a question about jobs.

Has there been any increase in the workforce as a result of Aer Lingus's success in recent years? Has the workforce remained static? I am glad Mr. Reidy outlined in his presentation the serious difficulties the workforce has experienced in recent years. It is a great credit to the Aer Lingus workforce that it has managed to come through three hostile bids and through all the rationalisation that took place to make it a leaner airline, which as Mr. Reidy said has made it a more profitable airline. I record the appreciation of all of us of the outstanding contribution the workforce has made to ensure that Aer Lingus is now an attractive enough option for a major commercial company to want to take it over. I am interested as to whether there has been an increase in the workforce. If there has been and I would be surprised if there has not been, it is a further indication of the reasons the Government should not allow a takeover of a company that is not only expanding in terms of bringing in more tourist numbers but is creating more jobs on its own through its own good efforts. I, like everybody else, cannot understand why the Government would for one moment contemplate allowing this takeover to go ahead because, as has been pointed out, Aer Lingus does not need IAG, rather IAG needs Aer Lingus. It would not be around otherwise. That is the way predatory companies operate.