Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

The disastrous circumstances concerning Aer Lingus have arisen because of Fianna Fáil's decision to privatise our former national airline. The blame lies solely at the Government's door and its motion is of scant consolation to those in the mid-west who will be affected by the loss of employment, damage to tourism and a lack of access to Heathrow, one of the world's most important transport hubs.

Sinn Féin was vehemently opposed to the privatisation of Aer Lingus from the outset and warned that the process would undermine the delivery of national and regionally balanced services, worsen workers' terms and conditions and put in jeopardy the future of the airline's operations anywhere on the island. Sinn Féin forewarned that a privately owned Aer Lingus would be concerned only with the maximisation of profit for its shareholders and would have no interest in the social and economic needs of the Irish people. The Government has already abdicated its responsibility to ensure that, as an island nation, we have a national airline to play a vital infrastructural role.

Aer Lingus's announcement on cancelling Shannon-Heathrow flights will have serious repercussions for inward investment, tourism and indigenous businesses in the mid-west. Privatisation is a tried and failed economic ideology. The selling off of public services and interests does not deliver better services, more jobs and a stronger economy. As socialist republicans, we believe it is imperative that such assets remain in State hands under democratic public control in order to best serve the public interest.

Fianna Fáil is paying lip service to balanced regional development. At the very least, the Government should exercise its strength as a key shareholder in Aer Lingus by demanding that the company immediately reverse its decision to close the Shannon-Heathrow route. The former Minister for Transport, Deputy Martin Cullen, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport and the Marine, Deputy Pat Gallagher, stood up in this Chamber and reassured Members that the Government would guarantee the protection of the State's strategic interests and that remaining a significant minority shareholder would ensure this. It made the same point to the farmers and workers in the sugar industry in Mallow and Carlow and said their interests would be protected by the golden share. Where is the golden share for the workers and producers of Mallow and Carlow? Where is the golden share for the workers and commuters in Shannon? The Government has misled us grossly and is being economical with the truth in the highest order.

The introduction of Aer Lingus's Belfast-Heathrow route is a very welcome and positive development, but it should not be at the expense of Shannon. One region should not be played off against another. This is what is happening and the Government's supporters in the mid-west have engaged in a whispering campaign and are trying to excuse themselves by saying the closure of the Shannon-Heathrow route and the move to Belfast is a spin-off of the peace process. This is a despicable tactic but all too typical of this Government.

We need an all-Ireland vision for Aer Lingus and the airport sector. The west needs a long-term, balanced regional development plan and the three airports should complement one another instead of competing. Not only has Aer Lingus washed its hands of Shannon but it seems the Government has followed suit. There has never been any rational argument advanced for the sell-off of Aer Lingus other than to satisfy the insatiable demands of the privatisation lobby within both Government parties and their financiers in the private sector.

The disgraceful privatisation has been a betrayal of the Irish people. Its consequences, with the closure of small post offices, the privatisation of Greencore and the continuing decline in the rural population, have been very serious. At the stroke of a pen, the Minister destroyed the fishing sector earlier this year. This is what the Government is doing to destroy the fabric of rural Ireland, which has served us so well through the years. It should be ashamed about what it is doing. It has sold out the workers in Shannon and the drift fishermen. By introducing legislation to criminalise the fishing industry, it has destroyed the west of Ireland. The Minister is responsible and it will be his legacy to this House.

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