Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

It is a pity the Minister did not think of that before now. At this stage, does the Minister accept that he and his Cabinet colleagues have been utterly reckless with the national airline in pursuing his privatisation agenda? Is it not the case that the Minister, in particular, blindly and continuously ignored frequent warnings that this particular scenario of a predatory takeover could occur?

What contact has the Minister had today with the European Commission in respect of the concerns which we all had before he moved to privatise the company and which he ignored? Has he registered the concern of the Government over what is likely to happen now to Aer Lingus? Does he accept that the only way he can block a takeover by Ryanair is to move to buy back shares to secure 50% of Aer Lingus?

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