Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Unlike the hypocrites in Opposition, I can say that having done it. I know what I am talking about it.

I would like to set out the position and deal with the realities. The Minister has set out the legal position and nobody has put up an argument to undermine that. However, important issues are outstanding. The briefings of the chief executive officer of Aer Lingus regarding industrial relations in the company set the background for the decision and raise serious issues that cannot be avoided and must be grappled with in the future. Depending on how that plays out, major issues must be addressed. The question of what we believed the blocking minority shareholding would achieve must be dealt with in the medium term by those who gave legal and other advice. However, today it does not advance the case to restore connectivity.

I want to concentrate on how to address that. Representatives of Aer Lingus management say it has made a commercial decision and even if they are not open to questioning on the basis of the ownership of a share of an airline, they are open to questioning on this commercial decision. They have laid out a number of factors in private and public briefings, one of which is airport charges. That difficulty and the ill-feeling over Ryanair's deal with Shannon Airport is addressed in the offer set out by the airport authority at Shannon and, therefore, one of the legs underpinning the company's commercial decision is no more. They also say their costs in Shannon are 50% higher than in Dublin or elsewhere. A process is provided under social partnership involving the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission to address such issues. Aer Lingus managers did not take this route but they must do so quickly. They claim they can achieve better load factors and fares in Belfast. The evidence of bookings to date suggests strongly that will not be the case and if this transpires to be so, Aer Lingus management has a case to answer on commercial grounds. They must address this on behalf of various shareholders, including the Government. They cite reducing loads in Shannon Airport and that was borne out by the request by British Midlands for support from the business community. Perhaps the business community could do something to indicate its support for a service at Shannon Airport.

I acknowledge the issues raised by the Minister in his contribution about acquiring additional slots and the legal difficulties involved but I ask him to examine them further because they can be so examined. Aer Lingus management must address its treatment of 350,000 passengers. No more than any other company, it has a corporate responsibility for which it is answerable and if it does not do so, it must be brought to account for it. Enormous damage had been done to the company's brand through the plan management has set out.

As I have stated repeatedly when addressing this matter, connectivity is important and it can be achieved ideally by having Aer Lingus acknowledge it has made a mistaken decision——

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