Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

——and a commitment far above and beyond the call of duty. That has been manifest in the way in which direct financial sacrifices have been made by staff at various times of difficulty within the company, and particularly in what has now proved to be one of the major issues as we deal with the proposed investment in the company, that is, pensions.

In a way, today is a sad day but it is also a proud one. What decides whether it is a sad or proud day depends really on where one is coming from in this discussion and on whether one sees the glass as half empty or half full. It is sad that we are debating the probability of Aer Lingus moving out of State ownership at all. State ownership has served Aer Lingus well for a long number of years.

Equally, it is a proud day in that it is one on which a major step will be taken for Aer Lingus to take its place among the airlines of the world with its own financial foundation in place, regardless of state aid. I wonder how the founders of Aer Lingus 70 years ago would look on it. I believe they would look on it as a proud day, from which the airline can go forward with pride, building on the tradition and on the brand recognition generated over the years and building also on the loyalty of the workforce which is in no way diluted since the early days.

Today is a difficult one for many of the individual issues of the proposed transaction, the considerable detail of which, unfortunately, we are of necessity lacking. It is by no means over the line yet. There are several issues remaining and I believe these will be dealt with. As I stated, the staff have made significant sacrifices over the years and, equally, have shown remarkable commitment in the work ethic. We need not look too far into the past. In recent years, post 9/11, when Aer Lingus, with many other airlines, was looking over the precipice, it was the staff, with good management, strong ideals and a strong ethic, who rescued the airline. In addition, the Cahill plan was implemented approximately ten years ago. On each occasion Aer Lingus was rescued by the commitment of the staff and those who were prepared to make sacrifices. Ten years ago the company had a staff of 7,000 and 3,500 pensioners, while the reverse is the case today.

The major issue in this transaction is the deficit in the company's pension fund. It has been suggested that the deficit has been introduced as an opportunistic lever to secure the flotation but that is untrue. The first meeting I attended as an Oireachtas Member six years ago concerned the pension deficits faced by Aer Lingus, the Dublin Airport Authority and SR Techniques. The issues are complex but it is fundamental to this transaction that the deficit should be resolved satisfactorily before it proceeds.

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