Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been following the meeting remotely but am now in Leinster House. I have followed every minute of it. In principle, I have no difficulty with a higher borrowing ceiling being permitted. I have no issue but I have questions along the lines of those of Deputy O'Rourke's. Does this higher borrowing ceiling reflect Shannon Airport coming back under the DAA umbrella again or under the umbrella of a new entity? This provision only came to my attention in recent weeks. I am going on a slight tangent but this cause of concern should be shared. In trying to raise capital, IAG has set up bonds relating to its landing slots at Heathrow and other European hubs. While I know the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, must insist on certain safety checks, when an entity wants to raise liquidity, it is very important that we know what type of assets are being leveraged to get capital loans of that kind. I know landing slots do not necessarily belong to our country but I was certainly very concerned to see them used as loan collateral. If IAG was to run into major financial trouble, certain key strategic landing slots for flights from Ireland to Britain and continental Europe could disappear overnight. When Dublin Airport or any other aviation entity in Ireland is raising major liquidity, it is important that we know, to some extent, the kinds of collateral they are using to leverage this liquidity. I have no difficulty with the amendment in principle.