Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take all of these questions together.

I have noted with serious concern yesterday's announcement by SR Technics regarding the proposed sale of certain assets on their facility in Dublin airport. I have had extensive contacts with SR Technics over the past number of months and am extremely disappointed at this development. The firm has indicated that the bids received for its Dublin operations, which were supported by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, were what was described as "well below" their assessment of the current market value of the assets there.

The company has said that it has reached a provisional agreement with a bidder for the sale of the APU and landing gear assets. As part of this process, it has agreed not to disclose the bidder's identity or any details pertaining to the details of the sale agreement until the transaction has been completed. The company has also said that it is still open to bids in any of the remaining parts of the business, including base maintenance, line maintenance, garage and the remaining tooling and equipment not included in the APU and landing gear transaction. I understand that SR Technics will accept bids up until next Friday, 22 May for base maintenance and Wednesday, 27 May for line maintenance or garage. Without the key assets and equipment in place, the location of Dublin Airport is less attractive for companies to start an APU and-or landing gear maintenance shop. The skills base of the former employees will, however, remain an attraction for a short time. The line maintenance and garage division continues to employ over 200 people and a ten year contract is in place between SR Technics and Aer Lingus for the line maintenance of the Aer Lingus fleet.

Following the announcement by SR Technics on 12 February 2009, I established a team comprising IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to work with SR Technics and interested parties to find the best possible solution. We also hired outside expertise on the aviation sector to help secure the best possible outcome. IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland established a team to market the operation internationally through their overseas office network and received over 16 expressions of interest in the facility. The team contacted the companies to evaluate their level of interest in the operation and encourage them to bring forward investment proposals to take over all or part of the operation. In all, SR Technics received over 30 expressions of interest and five bids from interested parties for parts of the business and carried out its assessment of these bids. The plan was that, following the assessment process, SR Technics would select a successful bidder, following which the State agencies, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, would evaluate the proposals to ascertain if they could support the proposals submitted. It is clear that SR Technics has moved to accept a bid for part of the business that was not among those expressions of interest received by the IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland team. Notwithstanding this move, I intend to continue to work with IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the Dublin Airport Authority, as well as the remaining bidders and any other interested parties, to maximise employment opportunities at the plant, in addition to the 250 plus jobs which remain in line maintenance and design.

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