Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

Many questions were asked and I hope I do justice to Deputies in terms of replying to their questions. Booz & Co. has had extensive experience both in terms of infrastructure and airports. I can provide the Deputy with a more detailed document if he requires on the background to some work it did internationally. Many people would accept the company did a very good job, although I accept there was scepticism about it initially. One of the things I asked it to do was to spend time in the relevant regions and with the various sectoral interests, which it did. It did it well and I was pleased with the work carried out.

It is important to put on record the motivation of the Government on the issue, which is to make sure we have strong airports in both Cork and Shannon, Cork being a passenger airport and a business airport for the future. Cork is working very well as an airport but the difficulty there is the enormous debt that has arisen from the new terminal which it will not be able to pay off on its own. Inevitably, over time the debt will have to be paid off by passengers using Dublin Airport. Shannon Airport has a great future as a passenger airport but also as one which is concerned with avionics and aero-industry but the status quo there is not working and the airport is in decline, which is why we need to have a change of policy in that regard.

When it comes to public ownership I agree with the Deputies' comments. It is intended that the airports will stay in public ownership but that is not to say that there cannot be private sector investment and involvement in the airports in a way that is not the case currently.

When it comes to timescale, I need to spend a little more time in consultations and discussions. I have not yet had a proper chance to talk to the unions, for example, some of the stakeholders in the various regions and some of the businesses that are interested in investing. A memo for information will go to Government this month or next month and then a memo for decision will be prepared later on in the year. Given that any decision to proceed with separation could require legislation, getting it all done this year is ambitious but possible.

Regarding the workers, I fully understand that they want assurances about their pension, terms and conditions and security of tenure. I should point out that nobody in the DAA at the moment in any of the existing airports has security about their pension because of the huge pension deficit, so there is an opportunity there for the workers. Nobody has security about their jobs because further redundancies are planned, albeit voluntarily, and nobody in the entire country has security about their terms and conditions unless they are covered by the Croke Park agreement, which the staff in the DAA are not. Let us be realistic about the current position.

We have a lot of semi-State companies and State agencies and it is important that the workers in semi-State companies and in State agencies are respected. At the same time, we must remember that semi-State companies and State agencies should not be run in the interest of the workers. The HSE should be run in the interests of patients not the staff, schools should be run in the interests of children not the teachers and airports should be run in the interests of passengers and the broader economic interests of the region not just those who work there. I am sure everyone would agree with that.

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