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

There is no point in publishing a draft solution if it is not going to get the support of parties. The whole point of a negotiation like this is to try to identify the gaps between the various parties - a number of gaps exist in this case - and come to a solution step by step. That is what the expert panel is doing. The panel will report to us again at the end of the month. I hope that in time, it will be able to propose a solution that is acceptable not just to the members of the scheme - the pensioners and the airport workers who are covered by it - but also to the shareholders in the companies involved. It will have to be acceptable to the Government, which is the shareholder in the Dublin Airport Authority and a minority shareholder in Aer Lingus, and to the other shareholders in Aer Lingus. I remind the House that the Government was on the losing side when the remuneration of the CEO was voted on a few weeks ago. Pensioners and members of the scheme need to bear in mind that any money injected into the scheme by Aer Lingus will need the support of the institutional shareholders in Aer Lingus. I do not think the penny has quite dropped in that respect.

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