Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I expect the Minister is aware that many of the union representatives are dissatisfied with the so-called consultation. Does the Minister understand consultation to consist essentially of him informing the workers' representatives about what he intends to do or is there a genuine consultative process involved?

As regards the meetings, the Minister's strategic plan states that he will sell off Aer Lingus in the long term. Does he accept that now is probably the worst time ever to so do, particularly in view of increasing oil prices and the prospect of falling passenger numbers and profits? For example, one may consider the difficultiesencountered by Air Berlin, which recently floated on the stock exchange. Employees' shares were diluted and the expected money was not realised from the flotation.

The workers are in the dark at present. When will the Minister inform them as to what will happen to the company? There has been much stalling on this matter since 1992. What timescale does the Minister envisage in respect of the sale and is commercial investment completely off the agenda? Although Ireland is a hub at present, is the Minister concerned that it will cease to be so after the possible sale of Aer Lingus and will become more of a backwater? I will be interested to discover his view in that regard.

As regards the consultations, those to whom I have spoken are dissatisfied with the Minister's involvement therein. While I am aware that he will meet the unions again tomorrow, people expect consultations to be a two-way process. Until now, the Minister has not taken on board the concerns of the workers, particularly with regard to their pensions and so on.

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