Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I largely agree with much of what the Deputy said. As he is well aware, the Government, the Taoiseach and I firmly believe in the use of industrial relations machinery and that it should always be used to deal with disputes. I always believe that consultation and discussion are far preferable to people not talking to each other. I understand considerable discussion took place between management and unions in the company. I urge that whatever mechanisms are available within the industrial relations machinery should be used.

There is no doubt that the staff and management in Aer Lingus have done a fantastic job compared to other airlines, some of which in terms of international brand names are no longer with us. They went to the wall because they were not able to compete. In terms of traditional State owned air carriers, the company has brought Aer Lingus to the top in terms of its achievement, but there is enormous pressure on the company. Competition is growing daily at Dublin Airport. There is great expansion on the Middle Eastern routes and many new formidable competitors are competing with Aer Lingus. As the Deputy will be aware, we signed a new bilateral agreement with Singapore, which will result in more competition on routes to that region. We are engaged in discussions with China and Thailand. We hope to see the open skies initiative come to fruition, certainly from an Irish perspective. Therefore, Aer Lingus must be very lean, fit and competitive. The best way to achieve that is for all who work in the company to have the focused goal of achieving that end and to not alone maintain the company's position but to see it grow substantially. There is no doubt there is a huge opportunity for it to do so. It has been doing that successfully in the European sphere of operations in recent years. There is a huge opportunity for the company to expand its flights to the Middle East, South Africa, the Far East and potentially to Australia. Therefore, I agree with the Deputy's point in that respect.

I urge all involved on both sides to use the industrial relations machinery available to them. Any industrial action would be potentially damaging for the company, its staff, management and everybody involved. We need to avoid that course of action. The best way to do that is for both sides to get together with the use of industrial relations machinery available to work with them to achieve a positive outcome.

See this speech in context