Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I lend my support to the Fine Gael amendment to the motion. I notice that my constituency colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Dea, is absent, which is a pity. He was elected primarily to represent the people of Limerick East and he is not here. He was correct when he said on the "Morning Ireland" radio programme that the Minister for Transport and the Marine was taking his own advice. Clearly the speech by the Minister for Transport and the Marine contains absolutely nothing. Every body in the mid-west and west has condemned this decision. Local authority members including many from the Minister's party have condemned it, as have the Catholic and Protestant bishops in the region and various business groups. We have the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance. We have 400 employees of Aer Lingus, who have been completely overlooked by the Government. If those 400 employees were in the Minister's constituency in Meath West, I do not believe he would have the attitude he has shown today.

The regional planning guidelines indicate that 36,000 people in jobs in the region are directly or indirectly affected by Shannon Airport. There is €35 billion invested from US companies in the region. The American Chamber of Commerce states there are 129 US companies employing 20,000 people and that it will be a disaster if Shannon to Heathrow connectivity ceases. The Atlantic Connectivity Alliance, a business group, states that passengers from 200 destinations arrive through Heathrow and we will lose connection with 46 cities if the Shannon to Heathrow connection ceases. Six new hotels have been built in my constituency, Limerick East, in the past year, providing 1,000 extra beds. They were built on the basis of certain infrastructure being in place, in particular, the Shannon to Heathrow connection.

The Government's motion is a sham. It is an insult to the people of the mid-west and the west. It makes no reference to the only thing that could effect a change, namely, calling an EGM. If the Government is so disappointed about the decision of Aer Lingus, if it is so interested in balanced regional development, why did it not move during the last several weeks and call for such an EGM? What has happened highlights the neglect of the region. There is no reference to Shannon Airport in the national development plan. There is no mention of a Shannon to Limerick rail link. Talk of ground transport is a joke. The Government downgraded Shannon development in the past two years under the current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin. On 4 July subsequent to the election of the new Dáil, I raised on the Adjournment the issue of the tourism and economic development plan to which my colleague, Deputy Pat Breen, also referred. The Minister did not attend the debate. That plan was brought in by the Minister's predecessor who commissioned the plan and launched it amid fanfare in July 2006, but there is still no funding in place. I was informed during the Adjournment debate that it would be provided in a couple of weeks. Three months later there is no sign of it. The Minister must put that funding in place.

We have heard about this poor decision by Aer Lingus and about its profitability. Why did Dermot Mannion not go to Shannon Airport Authority and engage with the unions to seek renegotiation to make it profitable? The Minister neglected to say that more than two thirds of the shareholders in Aer Lingus were against the company's decision. Deputy Peter Power was the first Deputy to come out in support of Ryanair's call for an EGM. On "Morning Ireland" he stated that as a TD for Limerick and a representative of the mid-west he would encourage the Government to support resolutions before the EGM to reverse the decision. I call on Deputy Power to join with us today and make this happen. It is a shame that my constituency colleague, the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, is not here today. He should be present. He spoke ad nauseam about how he represents the people of the mid-west and Limerick East. He supported the call for an EGM. He even stated that if this decision went through it would set a precedent for removing the Heathrow slots from Cork and Dublin. It is a disgrace that the only Cabinet Minister based in the mid-west is not here today.

I ask Deputy Power and his colleagues in the west and mid-west to vote with us today. They cannot speak out of both sides of their mouths. They are either for the mid-west and its survival or they are against it. Today's vote will show which.

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