Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

To clear up any confusion that may have arisen, there is no connection between the State's minority stake in Aer Lingus and the pension deficit. The size of the State's stake in Aer Lingus has no bearing on the situation. The taxpayer is not liable for deficits in private pension funds. That applies equally to CIE, Irish Rail, Cork Port and the other bodies which we are not considering for privatisation. As the contributions were not paid into the Exchequer, these are not public service pensions. The employees paid into a pension fund in the same way as one contributes to a private pension fund.

There are no slots in Germany or Dusseldorf. The Deputy may be referring to the possible sale of DAA's stake in Dusseldorf airport but I have no information on that. It was reported in a newspaper that trade unions favoured the sale of that State asset in order to replenish the pension fund. It is interesting that trade unions support the sale of State assets to replenish pension funds but not to invest in the economy.

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