Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate Deputy Ellis letting me in on this particular question. There were some media reports about a board meeting of Aer Lingus, which was due to take place last Friday. Part of the leaks in advance seemed to suggest that there was an item on the agenda concerning the consolidation of Aer Lingus maintenance activities on the grounds of the campus at Dublin Airport. Can the Minister give us any insight into that? In the context of today's announcement on Shannon, the Minister has set the future for the region based on activities which are ancillary to passenger activity, as to providing future employment potential at the airport. It is my view that if Aer Lingus, as the national carrier - or, at least, a carrier with a significant national shareholding - was to move its maintenance from Shannon to Dublin it would be somewhat belittling for the Government's policy to set Shannon as a centre of excellence for ancillary aircraft maintenance and general activity in that regard.

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