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

I thank the witnesses for their presentations and congratulate Mr. Kavanagh on his appointment. We have heard various opinions from the different groups that have attended this committee, but the overall opinion of people on the street is that Aer Lingus is doing well, passenger numbers are increasing, it is a modern airline and the hotel side and tourism are thriving and steadily and improving. Why then would we look at trying to sell off an airline that seems to be doing well and making progress, albeit at a slow pace? A slow pace is good. Representatives from Stobart have said their business has grown 40% or 50%. What more would one want? Gradual improvement at that rate is steady progress.

What is lacking here is vision. If I were CEO of Aer Lingus, I would be saying that I want to grow the airline on its own, for the shareholders, the State and everyone, and that is what I would be pushing for. Senior executives stand to make money on their shares if Aer Lingus is sold. I see this as a conflict of interest in the context of making a judgment and being objective. In objective terms, they would say they should push ahead and work at growing the airline on a steady basis and open up routes. This is happening and more connectivity is being developed. I believe this is the way Aer Lingus should be going.

In regard to Stobart, what does it stand to gain financially in terms of shares? Earlier we heard Aer Lingus is unsure how much senior executives will get. I find that difficult to believe. I am sure the board has a clear picture of how much each individual and each executive will get. I would love to know how much Stobart stands to get. Are pensions of both Aer Lingus and Stobart members involved in any deal? Are Aer Lingus pensions invested in this? What good is a five-year guarantee when we have a steady business that is making progress?

I found it interesting that Mr. Walsh mentioned the guarantees. In an article in The Guardianlast year or the previous year, he mentioned the main issue was long flights and that the slots in Heathrow were very important in this regard. The 23 Aer Lingus slots are extremely important in the context of expanding business. Is Aer Lingus aware that when the deal was made with the Spanish airline Iberia in 2011, more than 4,500 people were made redundant and even now more of that airline's staff are being laid off? Can we accept the word of an organisation that is laying off people as we speak and that says it will create jobs? We are told there is a possibility of 1,200 jobs being lost immediately.