Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has made a very valid point. The new Shannon company needs to be on a sustainable financial footing. Quite evidently there is no point in doing it otherwise. However, it also needs to be commercial. Quangos and State agencies are on a sustainable financial footing because they receive money from the Government. I do not want this to be a quango or a State agency. I want it to be a successful company which is on a sustainable financial footing from day one and which, from then on, will have to make a go of it. If it is successful, it will succeed, grow and improve each year. If it is not it will not, and this is the risk that arises with any commercial venture.

The Minister, Deputy Bruton, and I expect to bring the conclusions of the working groups to Cabinet in November and all things going to plan, assuming we will have Cabinet support, I expect to proceed with appointing a board by the end of the year, which will then recruit a chief executive officer. Asking me how long it will take to recruit a chief executive officer is a different question and I cannot answer it. Something else I have learned is that it can take a bit of time to do this.

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