Liz O'Donnell (Dublin South, Progressive Democrats)

I will develop this point if I am allowed. The motion before the House tabled by Sinn Féin calls for the status quo for Aer Lingus, State ownership, same conditions and practices. This will mean the same problems, unfortunately. It is remarkable that Sinn Féin, Labour and the Greens tried to pass off all their policies as if they are in the best interests of the company and to a lesser degree, the consumer.

The truth is the Government parties are the ones listening to the concerns of Aer Lingus and the travelling public. They have invested a great deal of time and reflection before coming to the recent decision. Aer Lingus itself believes there is significant growth potential, particularly on long haul routes, provided it has the appropriate cost base and access to funds to finance aircraft acquisition.

The question is how to best facilitate that growth, how realistically to provide the funds required. Apart from statements laden with rhetoric from Sinn Féin, how does it propose to raise the required capital? The Sinn Féin motion and the contributions of its Deputies last night do not answer this fundamental question.

The Labour Party, predictably and understandably, supports continued State ownership of the airline. At least it is brave enough to set out its policy. We know Aer Lingus sees significant growth potential, particularly on long-haul routes. Its long-haul fleet consists of seven Airbus planes. It is believed Aer Lingus sees opportunities for expansion on the Atlantic routes and a need to replace and extend the fleet with up to a dozen new long-haul aircraft. Given that these reportedly cost more than €100 million each, I would be fascinated to hear how the Labour Party proposes to justify spending €1.2 billion of taxpayers' money on airplanes.

Fine Gael, on the other hand, rejects Sinn Féin's motion and the Government amendment yet it stated last night it has no problem with the central point of the Government amendment. Policy on Aer Lingus can now be added to the list of disarray as between Fine Gael and Labour that includes the M3, the second terminal, stud fees, Aer Rianta, etc. The list goes on. Where would we be if the parties opposite were in charge? This is supposedly the alternative Government.

The Government parties are now agreed on how——

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