Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

The Government lacks the vision and, more importantly, the commitment to public services, State ownership of an important industry, the thousands of workers, the tens of hundreds of people in the community who depend on the airline and the millions of passengers. This Government has contempt for State projects and for public service workers. Witness the Taoiseach's disgraceful blunderbuss attack on health workers yesterday. How do nurses feel this morning being put down and abused in that way? The Minister for Finance has also shown us contempt. He facilitated Fianna Fáil cronies to gain land rezoning around Dublin Airport to the great detriment of aviation possibilities and airport planning. Has he any idea of the trauma caused to Aer Lingus workers by this privatisation and the prospect of a man taking control who is not just arrogant, harsh and anti-trade union À la 1913, but has contempt for the workers? Whether he takes full control or not, the Minister has allowed a cuckoo into the Aer Lingus nest. That cuckoo will use whatever shareholding he has to drive bargains with the Government in the interest of Ryanair, to get conditions for the development of Dublin Airport and the Irish Aviation Authority to suit the profits of his shareholders. That is the only agenda. Whether or not he gains control, Deputy Cowen has allowed this situation to develop and is risking thousands of jobs, the communities that depend on them and the national airline when he could have chosen a different road. The Minister must not deny that he could have invested.

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