Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

In recent meetings with the Aer Lingus trade unions on the future of the company, they raised a number of concerns of staff in respect of the planned IPO, including job security and pensions. I have mandated Aer Lingus management to engage with the trade unions to seek to address those concerns. Decisions on new routes are a commercial matter for the company. Late last year, I secured agreement with the US authorities on transitional arrangements for Shannon Airport in the context of proposals for an EU-US "open skies"' agreement. At that time, I sought and received assurances from Aer Lingus that in the context of a level playing field for the airline and its competitors, it would maintain the current level of transatlantic traffic — approximately 400,000 passengers per annum — with regular year-round scheduled services between Shannon and Boston and New York. As everyone can see, the numbers travelling through Shannon, Cork and Dublin Airports have risen substantially in the past 12 months.

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