Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

Two developments are under way with regard to the future of Aer Lingus. First, the Joint Committee on Transport is about to begin public hearings to allow parties to express their views on the potential implications of the sale of Aer Lingus and to allow for analysis of that process, which has yet to take place. Second, the Minister for Transport recently instructed management to engage intensively with the unions to discuss the implications for jobs and job security. Does the Minister accept it would be entirely wrong to pre-empt these two processes by taking a Cabinet decision on the future ownership of Aer Lingus prior to the two processes reaching a conclusion? Will the Government undertake to allow the two processes to continue to a conclusion before the Cabinet decides on the matter?

See this speech in context