Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

——due to deteriorating industrial relations in Aer Lingus, it may not be possible to get an Aer Lingus flight to anywhere. Last weekend British Midland indicated that it does not intend to run a service from Shannon to Heathrow. I would like the Taoiseach to tell us the name of the proposed carrier that will offer a service from Shannon to Heathrow. As I understand it, it was either British Midland or Aer Lingus and if British Midland will not provide the service, then the only way in which a service from Shannon to Heathrow can be provided is if Aer Lingus changes its position.

We have deteriorating industrial relations in Aer Lingus. If the suspension of pilots continues, inevitably it will result in an effect on the services being provided to the travelling public.

The Minister, Deputy Dempsey, announced at the weekend that he intends to appoint two additional directors to the board of Aer Lingus, and these people could and should have been appointed at a much earlier stage. Will the Taoiseach answer these three questions? How is it proposed to provide a service from Shannon to Heathrow? The people in the regions of the mid-west and west were led to believe by Government spokespersons and Deputies to bear with the process and that it would be all right on the night, that something would be fixed up and some alternative service would be put in place to service the Shannon-Heathrow route. It is time we were told the plan for services from Shannon to Heathrow and not from Shannon to anywhere else. How seriously is the Government taking the deteriorating industrial relations situation in Aer Lingus? Does the Taoiseach intend to use the powers open to him or the relevant Minister under section 38 of the Industrial Relations Act to ask either the Labour Relations Commission or the Labour Court to intervene in that dispute? Can the Taoiseach explain why the Government left the board of Aer Lingus under-representated by the State at a critical period when Aer Lingus was making critical decisions that affect our strategic interests?

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