Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

This is a bit of a mess. The fact is that 7% of the over allotted share option that was sold two days after the IPO could have been sold four weeks later. The decision was made by someone. The Minister stated that he was informed by the underwriters. He might confirm whether he had a right to veto that undertaking when it was given to him two days after the initial IPO.

Is it not likely that part of that 7% might have subsequently ended up in the 20% shareholding of Aer Lingus's main competitor, which has built up a shareholding that puts it in a strong position to become not only a majority shareholder, but the eventual owner of Aer Lingus, thus obviating any competition in Irish aviation?

Is it correct that the probable reason the 7% was sold just two days after the IPO is that the share price rose sharply over the original share price of €2.20, which we now know in retrospect was the Government undervaluing Aer Lingus?

The Government stands indicted on several grounds. Not only is there the risk of Aer Lingus falling into the hands of its biggest competitor, despite the Government seeming to depend on the largesse of other people and the Aer Lingus pilots, but there is the possibility of the National Pension Reserve Fund using the State's money to relieve the Government's embarrassment on this issue. Can the Minister explain why the 7% was sold two days afterwards when he had the option, which I presume he maintained, of holding on to those shares for a full 30 days, seeing how the share sale proceeded over that period, and stopping others from accumulating the significant share bloc which they seem to have attained in the meantime?

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