Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Does the Taoiseach believe, as an island nation, that our people should be at the mercy of aviation multinationals? Does he believe that there is no strategic interest in having a publicly owned airline? Is it the reality that his Government has no loyalty to any concept of public ownership and being in hock ideologically and financially to big business is dancing to its tune?

What was the logic of the Taoiseach making a play less than a year ago denouncing a management buy-out by Mr. Walsh and his cronies when his proposed sell-out today may well finish up with the same gentleman, in his reincarnation as chief executive of British Airways, owning our national airline? Does he agree and can he see that rather than handing it into the hands of the privateers and speculators a different strategy could keep our national airline in public ownership? The alternative is to invest in the airline, bring workers to the heart of the management rather than treating them as the enemy as some sections of management have done and develop the airline as the national asset it is in the interests of our people.

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