Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is something askew here. In mothership Aer Lingus, a lot of staff were laid off, redeployed or went on reduced hours. In the Irish bases, Aer Lingus was subvented hugely by the Government, with €60 million or thereabouts. Meanwhile, over the Irish Sea in Manchester in that same period, Aer Lingus recruited and developed a new base. There is something askew there. If Aer Lingus got €60 million from the Government and made a single-digit million investment in Manchester, there is something amiss. Has it occurred to the airline at any point that the net figure should be refunded to the Irish Government and the State? In my book, it might have come under a different accountancy column, but it was money from the Irish taxpayer to shore up and protect things in Ireland. In that same period, Aer Lingus set up a brand-new base in Manchester. There is something wrong in that. We can only really get to that now that we are coming out of Covid-19.