Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

Aer Lingus is too important to the economy and to the country generally to subject it to the kind of incompetence we have become used to from the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues. We note that the Joint Committee on Transport is in the process of preparing a report on the implications of the proposed sale and it is entirely premature for the House to second-guess those deliberations.

The Labour Party has maintained from the beginning that the proposal to privatise Aer Lingus was ill-considered and ill-judged. This move would serve neither the national interest nor the interests of the travelling public. However, it is clear the Government has not been honest with either the public or the Aer Lingus workers. This motion must, therefore, be defeated.

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