Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

I want to express my absolute disgust at Aer Lingus for yet again singling out Shannon Airport for most of its planned cuts. I was shocked at the extent of the measures announced last Thursday. There is undoubtedly an agenda at work among senior Aer Lingus management to kick Shannon at every turn. Why else would the airline refuse to use the state-of-the-art new €21 million US pre-clearance facility at Shannon Airport? You can bet your bottom dollar that if the same facility were made available in Dublin first it would use it. Other carriers such as Continental, Delta and British Airways are availing of the service which puts Aer Lingus at a competitive disadvantage.

If Aer Lingus marketed and supported Shannon Airport as it does its new loss-making bases in Belfast and Gatwick, the potential of Shannon and the mid-west would be unlocked. Last winter 30,000 passengers travelled with Delta out of Shannon, whom Aer Lingus could attract.

Aer Lingus management is asking Shannon to carry an unfair burden. The loss of a 130-strong cabin crew base in Shannon and its replacement with a core group of just 20 to operate the Heathrow route is a step closer to Aer Lingus's full bypass of Shannon Airport. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has a very poor record in defending services at Shannon. This crisis presents him with an opportunity to redeem himself.

He must intervene in the interest of balanced regional development, of securing a transatlantic base on the west coast, of business and tourism in the mid-west and of saving 102 jobs. He must use the 25% shareholding he holds in Aer Lingus to ensure US connectivity to the mid-west region. I plead with the Minister to act and for once to work in the interest of Shannon. We need to retain the full complement of cabin crew there to secure our vital Shannon transatlantic base. The Minister's failure to intervene in the Shannon-Heathrow dispute was a big mistake. He should not make the same mistake this time.

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