Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I touched on some parts of the Deputy's question when I was responding to Deputy Dooley. His question contains particular reference to the Heathrow slots. I will devote my time to responding to that issue.

At the time of the flotation of Aer Lingus in 2006, a procedure for any proposed disposal of the Heathrow slots was built into the company’s articles of association. That procedure was outlined in detail at the time and on many occasions since in this House. The threshold to prevent a disposal of Heathrow slots is such that the vote against disposal cast at an EGM of Aer Lingus shareholders must be at least 25%, or greater than the percentage of the company's shares held by the Minister for Finance plus 5%. With the present State shareholding that threshold is 30.1%. Therefore, the ability of the State's shareholding to block a disposal of slots is not guaranteed under this mechanism. Furthermore, it relates only to a proposed disposal of slots. Aer Lingus does not require any shareholder approval to change the routes for which it uses slots.

IAG's latest announcement yesterday indicated that it is proposed to offer legally binding commitments to Government on Aer Lingus's Heathrow slots. These are still only proposals and it should be noted that IAG has stated that any such commitments would be subject to Irish takeover rules and EU competition review. The Government's steering group is considering this proposal and intends to engage with IAG to explore these potential commitments. However, it should be noted that these discussions are at an early stage. This is a complex area which will require detailed and careful consideration before any recommendations can be made to the Government.

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