Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

If the Government has decided to sell off the national airline, a decision I do not agree with, are the people not at least entitled to expect the Government to handle it competently? The Taoiseach's remarks are reminiscent of his climb down on decentralisation at the weekend. He has provided a door through which to escape when this collapses. If the Government is minded to sell off Aer Lingus, the Taoiseach will have to answer for why he personally routed the chief executive who proposed that at a time when it would have at least have brought in a few shillings for the Exchequer. Those market conditions no longer obtain.

The experience of Air Berlin, not dissimilar to Aer Lingus, cannot be ignored. We now hear the Taoiseach say that he proposed to go the market as soon as possible but his advisers must take into account market conditions. It is most likely, if the Taoiseach now accepts that he has missed the June deadline, that the situation will further worsen by September. Where and in what kind of mess does that leave us? Having had the experience of Eircom, an unmitigated disaster, where £70 million was paid out in fees to advisers, the Taoiseach is paying out more fees while telling the House, in effect, that the prospect of an IPO in September or October are minimal and, if it does happen, it will be to give away the national airline for a song, leaving this trading island nation with no control over future air links.

The situation since forcing out the chief and top executives, when market conditions were more propitious, seems to indicate that we are heading into another example of this Government's incompetence when it comes to doing the simple things well.

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