Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

——and whether the commercial principles that apply have brought about the level of investment required and will enable leveraging by the board for further investment in the interests of pursuing further development plans. That was the obvious, common-sense approach and it had broad support in the House, despite the fact that not too many people were discussing it. The approach to which I refer also had the broad support of many members of the workforce because it dealt with legacy issues relating to pensions and other matters which would not otherwise have been dealt with had this approach not been adopted. Let us be clear about what has been dealt with and what are the benefits that have arisen.

The Deputy's conspiracy theories about the Government's view on the Irish aviation industry are as off the beam as his theories regarding what I did when I served as Minister for Transport. I dealt with those matters in full before the tribunal and answered all questions. I am confident that the outcome will be far different from that suggested by the Deputy in his conspiracy theory.

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