Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegations for their presentations. In a way, the presentations were much clearer than that made by Mr. Willie Walsh last week. It is clear that both Aer Lingus and IAG intend to develop a hub in Ireland. It is equally clear the hub will be based in Dublin Airport. We have two State-owned airport groups, Shannon Airport and the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA. Is it possible to develop two hubs in a small country? Mr. Walsh is of the view that it is not possible. Mr. Kavanagh referred to Switzerland. It is one of the few small countries with two, albeit relatively small, hubs in Geneva and Zürich. They are both connected with the state railway infrastructure. There are many proposals to link Dublin Airport with the rail network, but I have not heard anybody mention Shannon Airport for ten years now. Perhaps one cannot link one without the other because of state aid rules, but that is a different issue. If Dublin Airport becomes a hub which, undoubtedly, would be good news for the airport, could Shannon Airport also become a hub? Could it even survive as a transatlantic destination? Would economies of scale inevitably pull all transatlantic flights from Ireland into Dublin Airport?

Mr. Barrington referred to new Aer Lingus US destinations, one on the east coast and one on the west coast. Will they fly into Dublin Airport or Shannon Airport?

I do not wish to be churlish, but Mr. Barrington has 300,000 shares in Aer Lingus. If the IAG deal goes through, they will be worth €765,000 to him. There is nothing wrong with this, as that is how the corporate world works. However, it is a lot of money. Mr. Barrington’s shareholding pales in comparison to that of the current chief executive. Mr. Christoph Müller received 1.5 million shares. Now that Mr. Kavanagh is about to become chief executive officer, will he receive a similar share offering? Is this standard for chief executive officers? I am asking this question because I would find it very difficult to make a clear-sighted decision if the difference between one or the other was €765,000. I appreciate that the gentlemen concerned have much more business experience than I have, but these are real human emotions and motivations.