Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

There is no question of Ryanair taking over Aer Lingus. The European Commission has ruled that it may not do so on competitive grounds, and I support that. In fact, Ryanair has expressed a willingness to sell its stake. The Ryanair and Government stakes together make 54% of the company, which could be very valuable and potentially of great interest to a buyer.

The key question we have to ask ourselves about the 25% stake is what is the value to the State in retaining it. Do we get a dividend from it? No, we do not. Does it give us any control of the company? No, it does not. We saw that when Aer Lingus pulled out of Shannon. For example, does it allow us to hold on to the Heathrow slots? No, it does not because one needs a 30% vote at an extraordinary general meeting to do that.

The issue of leave and return of employees arose in Aer Lingus where the company found itself paying a lot of money to the Revenue Commissioners because of this strange arrangement it had concerning leave and return. I met the three Government-appointed directors of Aer Lingus on this issue and they could not tell me about it because it is a secret, even though we own 25% of the company. That gives the Deputy an idea of how valuable the stake is.

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