Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am looking for further clarification on the testimony. I congratulate Mr. Kavanagh on his appointment and I wish him the best of luck. We have heard a lot of testimony over the past few weeks. Some of it shows that Aer Lingus has been operating under good management and is a profitable and growing company. IAG will benefit from the takeover of Aer Lingus. This is a change in the trend. Iberia was really struggling and would have been a target for a takeover, as I imagine the balance sheet was not very strong. With a strong brand and much potential, it would have been a realistic target for a takeover. Aer Lingus is in a different place and is still growing, albeit at a slower pace than if the IAG takeover occurs.

I link that to the testimony of Mr. Brogan. The relationship that Stobart Air and Aer Lingus Regional has with Aer Lingus has been hugely beneficial to his company. I draw a comparison between that situation and Iberia and IAG. In the case of Aer Lingus, it is completely different as it is a growing company in a takeover. It is not a company on its own and there are codeshares. Perhaps the witnesses can give me an idea of what this means for Aer Lingus if IAG is not in the room. What does the codeshare with Star Alliance and Sky Team bring to Aer Lingus in terms of a global reach for consumers?

Equally, we can talk about the economies of scale that may be beneficial in the case of a takeover by IAG of Aer Lingus. Can we hear about the benefits of the interline agreements with Etihad Airways, JetBlue and United Airlines, particularly in terms of procurement? How will this change and what is the relative benefit of IAG becoming involved? The IAG investment is €1.4 billion. This is the amount of funding on the table. The company will not get it back from the Irish consumer. The money will get a return from European and north American consumers and there will be only a marginal return in this country, based on a relative increase in activity. Perhaps the witnesses will clarify how this will benefit the Irish consumer or the State in terms of an increase and how to link this to Aer Lingus growing on a faster and larger scale and the 6 million people living on this island, north and south.