Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

—recognising the enormous contribution to the Irish economy made by the national airline, Aer Lingus, since its establishment;

—commending the workforce in Aer Lingus for building up the company over many years as one of the foremost airlines globally, and for their major contribution in returning the company to record profitability since 2001;

—noting that State funds, through the national pensions reserve fund, are currently being invested in aviation companies throughout the world, while the Government refuses to invest State funds in Aer Lingus;

—affirming the need to retain the national airline in public ownership as a vital strategic element of Ireland's infrastructure;

—asserting the responsibility of the Oireachtas to serve the public interest, including the convenience and safety of the travelling public and the livelihoods of workers in the national airline; and

—deplores the decision of the Government to sell the majority stake in Aer Lingus held by the State on behalf of the Irish people, thus leaving the company and the workforce open to exploitation by private commercial interests who will profit from the decades of investment by the Irish taxpayer in building up Aer Lingus and from the sacrifices of the workforce who saved the company in recent years;

calls on the Government to:

—retain the national airline, Aer Lingus, in State ownership;

—invest in Aer Lingus as required and on the basis of a business plan to secure the future of the airline, given that there is no impediment under EU competition rules to such investment;

—safeguard the employment, pay and conditions of all Aer Lingus workers; and

—develop Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports and the regional airports as part of an integrated all-Ireland transport policy, and in doing so fully comply with the agreement reached between the Taoiseach and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in the context of the 2004 pay talks so as to ensure that pay and conditions won by workers at Dublin Airport are fully applicable to workers in the new terminal or terminals there.

I wish to share time with Deputies Morgan, Ferris, Sargent, Gregory, Finian McGrath, Cowley and Boyle.

See this speech in context