Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The Minister's reply is inadequate, particularly given the fact that, on 7 October, he told The Sunday Tribune he would immediately appoint the directors. We are now in December. Is it not a fact that there have been vacancies for State nominees on the board since October 2006? It is a measure of the failure of this Government and of the Minister that he has failed to act.

The Minister did not respond to the specific question I asked, which was what further steps he would take. He said he was going to appoint directors with a new mandate. However, what mandate did his current board member have? The fact that two seats have been left vacant means the Minister did not use his mandate.

Everybody seemed to know about the transfer of slots from Shannon, such as the Civil Service, Dublin Airport Authority and Aer Lingus, except the Minister and his predecessor. Does that not represent a complete failure of the Government?

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