Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

In a sense, this is tinged with a certain amount of irony if one looks back at the Government having very much assisted Ryanair in ending a monopoly in the aviation sector. We were very much to the fore in introducing competition, which as the Deputy has said, was without question in the best interests of the economy and the people in terms of business and tourism. In effect, Ryanair is now trying to recreate a monopoly in the aviation sector. I and the Government view this matter very seriously. A monopoly is bad for business. It is bad for this country, the customer, the travelling public and tourism interests. All of those factors were the reasons why in the first place the Government has fostered and encouraged competition in recent years particularly in the aviation sector. We certainly do not want to see a new monopoly created in the aviation sector.

See this speech in context