James Breen (Clare, Independent)

I wish to share time with Deputies Finian McGrath, Sargent and Crowe.

The emergence of the mid-west as an advanced industrial area has been aided greatly by the emergence and continued development of Shannon Airport. The importance of the airport to companies choosing to base themselves in and around Shannon cannot be overstated. In Clare, many companies, in particular American-owned ones, have warned about their long-term future in Ireland in the event of Shannon losing or reducing its transatlantic services. I would go so far as to say that the future of the mid-west, from Limerick to Ennis to Galway, is dependent on an increase of air routes at Shannon Airport and the continued improvement of the infrastructure in the area.

I am proud of the improvements made in the road network in the mid-west in the past decade. This must continue and I look forward to the completion of the Ennis bypass in the near future. Allied to this, the rail link from Limerick to Galway with a spur link to Shannon must now become a priority. There is no point in having an excellent infrastructure in place unless Shannon Airport continues to hold its prominent position in the air traffic industry.

It is a source of shame that the staff who helped to turn Aer Lingus from a loss-making company in 2001 to the strong position it is in now should suffer. It is their hard work that has made the company an attractive option to privatise. I hope that the mistakes made in the privatisation of Eircom are not repeated.

Similarly, I hope the situation at An Post is not repeated where staff and pensioners still have not received the increases due to them under Sustaining Progress despite An Post recently announcing profits of €40 million. Workers at Aer Lingus deserve a guarantee that something similar will not happen to them.

The Government has stated it intends to hold on to a 25.1% share of Aer Lingus in any flotation. I would like the Minister to give a commitment to maintaining that share in the event of a new share issue and guarantee that the Government will buy new shares in such an event and not allow its shareholding to diminish slowly. To facilitate regional development, Shannon Airport in the past lost money by deliberately setting prices too low in an attempt to attract investment, knowing that the loss could be absorbed by the high profits made on Dublin based routes. Dublin Airport has now been boosted by the impending construction of a second terminal, whereas it would appear Shannon is to be simply cut adrift.

An investment plan to secure the future of Shannon should be put in place immediately before any privatisation or disposal. Shannon Airport had revenue of approximately €95 million in 2004. To help increase this, the catchment area needs to be made more attractive to industry. Along with the Ennis bypass, the rail link needs to be fast-tracked and a river crossing should be constructed to open up south Limerick and Kerry to the airport.

The Minister is selling the workers of Aer Lingus, but I plead with him not to do it. We want Aer Lingus and Shannon and want viable airports. The Minister is also trying to sell the airline by the abolition of the bilateral agreement. There is no demand on him to do this from America or Europe, but he wants to do it because he wants to pander to the Dublin lobby as the Government has done over the years.

We had just one friend in Government, Charlie Haughey, who protected Shannon against privatisation. He would not allow a change to the bilateral agreement. The Government, however, has sold us out and continues to do so. I plead with the Minister to withdraw this foolish proposal.

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