Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

It will be a great surprise to people that the State's 25% stake in Aer Lingus is what the Minister says it is. It was sold on the basis that the 25% would protect the airline and keep it in State control. The key benefit of having that control - I would like to hear the Minister's opinion on this - is that as an island nation we will not have to depend on a private business to run our airlines. We need those strategic assets to run our country and should not sell them off to the highest bidder.

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