Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Is the Minister's reply not an example of total incompetence on the part of the Government? I asked about the vacant seats on the board of directors of Aer Lingus, but in reply the Minister talked about what the directors will do when they are appointed. He refused to appoint them when he could have done so and, therefore, when the slots were being discussed, two of the Government seats were vacant and no one could articulate the policy for Shannon, the region or connectivity to Heathrow.

It is utterly unbelievable that, while everyone seems to have known about the decision of Aer Lingus; the Dublin Airport Authority knew, the board of Aer Lingus knew, the Department of Transport knew and the Belfast groups knew, the only person who did not know was the Minister. Not alone did he not know but for 44 days he sat in the Department and no one told him that he was not the mighty Minister, but the mighty mouse.

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