Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The image the Deputy portrays is based on people not having the full facts. The full facts were not available to readers of latest edition of the Sunday Independent and I was not afforded an opportunity to set the record straight, which is what I am doing now. On Monday morning, my Department received a letter indicating that Mr. O'Leary was making a decision on investment in Prestwick. That was the first correspondence between him and me since the final letter in September in which he thanked the IDA, following on from his annual general meeting, and said that although we did a considerable amount of work the matter was not in a position to progress and that he could not get access to hangar 6.

It is important that I take the opportunity to give the chronology of events that took place. It is equally important to say that I do not flaunt in the media the work I do in the context of my job as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the basis that I hold the highest regard for those who discuss their commercially sensitive issues with me and my agencies. I will not break their confidence and that is one of the reasons they will come and discuss these issues with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and me.

The final decision making for investment by IDA and Enterprise Ireland on behalf of the taxpayer is done forensically on behalf of the State, with outside independent evaluation of the worth of a project in terms of whether that investment, the job portfolio or research and development opportunities will stand up. It would be remiss of me, if I did not make sure that happened. Political charges would be made in this House if I instructed any of my agencies to make decisions that did not stand up on behalf of the taxpayer or the people who wish to be employed in any company.

It is important, therefore, that any trade mission or discussions I have with chief executive officers, public representatives or anyone else are based on the supports and encouragement I can give my State agencies and that the funding which is administered on behalf of the taxpayer does not show any lack of enthusiasm or hard work on my part to support job creation and the sustainability of jobs here.

Following on from the interview - and I was taken aback that Mr. O'Leary posted a letter to me because he normally likes to send faxes and have an immediate contact - I faxed his office immediately on Monday morning. I had a public engagement and was not in a position to do anything about that. A letter was sent by me to Mr. O'Leary. He responded. He requested a meeting and I agreed that we would have a meeting - we will have a meeting this evening - to ascertain if there are new opportunities available to us to support those jobs.

The Deputy talked about the role of the Minister for Transport. I kept the Minister for Transport fully briefed and we worked closely together following the decision by SR Technics to leave this country and the implications that would have for aviation policy. The aviation sector was going through a very difficult time in which many of the big names in aviation were being lost and where we had protracted negotiations with many of the large aviation bodies throughout the world. At that time we invested considerable time and resources in doing our utmost to sustain employment following the removal of SR Technics.

I have a litany of correspondence and discussions that took place between IDA, me, the DAA and Ryanair which started on 26 February 2009 and continued on 3 March, 24 April, 30 April, 1 May, 22 May, 10 June, 2 July, 21 July, 22 July, 12 August, 13 August, 14 August, 17 August, 18 August, 19 August, 25 August and 27 August. There was a second correspondence and discussion on 27 August and yet another one on the evening of 27 August. It continued on 28 August, 1 September, 4 September and the evening of 4 September, 7 September, 9 September and 10 September, which culminated with final correspondence between 17 September and following on from the company's AGM on 24 September. There has been a great deal of interaction between the company and the agencies, the DAA, through an intermediary, the Minister for Transport and me in the context of securing this project.

I firmly believe that if we have a cogent business plan which will stand up, and which I assume Mr. O'Leary has in the context of the sustainability and development of his company, and the offers that have been made available by me and-or the IDA on my behalf, with the DAA, to facilitate either a new build, as has been the case in Prestwick, or the availability of other hangars to support that, we will do everything we can to make sure that works.

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