Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I am in favour of this motion. Over the past few days, there have been many acknowledgements of the emotional attachment that Irish people have to Aer Lingus. We should not apologise for that. It is only right that we should feel a sense of pride in a company that in many ways has acted as an ambassador for Ireland. There is much to be said for spotting the distinctive shamrock in airports in any part of the world. As citizens, we are part of what that represents.

Before the dawn of the Celtic tiger in Ireland, there were few companies that inspired a sense of pride on the international stage. I listened to some of the contributions from the Progressive Democrats Party when its Deputies spoke about Aer Lingus and failure. In fact, Aer Lingus has been a remarkably successful company. They may be confusing the story with the current failures of the terminal, but describing Aer Lingus as a failure is offensive. It is also important that we look at the fixation on things being cheap. I acknowledge that a cost-effective service provision is essential to the profitability of companies, but a balance is important to provide comfortable travel for passengers. We only need to look at the recent controversy involving Irish Ferries and the failure of the company to pay the statutory minimum wage. The reputation of the company has been tarnished by those events, as has the reputation of this country. It is difficult not to see that happening in Aer Lingus with the majority shareholding going out of public ownership. We will not retain the kind of control needed to prevent such an outcome.

The simple fact is that Ireland is an island. If one is in Paris, Brussels or Berlin, it is difficult not to see the role that the railways and roads play in comparison with this country where we are very dependent on both air and sea travel. It is in our strategic interest that we retain this national carrier. I do not see the logic in hundreds of millions of euro being transferred to the State from the sale of this majority shareholding, when the State will then reinvest that same money in the company but will only own a fraction of it. We should not take advice from the people who gave us the same advice during the sale of Eircom.

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