Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the update on the travel tax. However, my question was simple. It was related to the position taken by the Government in the past four years, that the State's interest in Aer Lingus was not strategic and that it was available for sale. The only proviso was "at a suitable time"; in other words, a sale would probably be based on the share value at the time. This was repeated by the Minister's predecessor and, obviously, Government policy. On Sunday, for the first time, the Taoiseach took the view that the State's interest was of strategic value and tied up with connectivity and access to the outside world. When was the decision changed? The difficulty I have with this is that the late change of heart on the part of the Government has led to IAG coming after Aer Lingus and will lead to considerable costs being incurred by the Government because the Minister has had to appoint consultants to advise him on what is now seen as a political matter. I am concerned that he did not go through the appropriate process and that he did not make it known to the marketplace at a much earlier point that the State had a strategic interest in the shareholding. Therefore, it was not a timing issue, a value issue or a share price issue but much greater and deeper. The Government is guilty and finds itself in a quandary, where it must fight off what can only be described as a hostile attempt by an international corporation to gain access to what is a key strategic asset of the State.

See this speech in context