Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The position is that when the offer came initially it was not acceptable to Government. There was a good deal of discussion with the companies and the Department, and a move to strengthen what was the original offer. The Government has considered this very carefully. It is about the potential to grow the airline, grow connectivity and grow jobs. That is why the plan that is now set out sees an increase of nearly 2.5 million passengers and 635 new jobs in Aer Lingus. That will create further employment in a wider economy in terms of pilots, engineers and airline staff, and in the tourism industry as part of the strategy now unfolding nationally to grow tourism by serious amounts in the next ten years. There will be four new routes to North America by 2020. The impact of that will be very significant. The Cork-Paris and Cork-Amsterdam routes will be maintained and promoted. IAG will pursue those growth opportunities for Aer Lingus services from Cork. The Shannon-New York and Shannon-Boston routes will be maintained, and IAG plans to grow transatlantic services from Shannon. One only has to talk to any of the passengers who fly to the United States from either Dublin or Shannon. We have seen the numbers who have come from other locations around Europe because of the importance and the convenience of pre-clearance. This holds significant potential for the future.

In connecting from Gatwick with Aer Lingus, Knock Airport will have the opportunity now to connect into the IAG hub, with 60 other routes. As part of its drive, in terms of the Wild Atlantic Way, that is a real opportunity from a tourism and business perspective. It is also expected that Aer Lingus's cargo capacity will have increased by 50% by 2020.

There have been three hostile bids in the past in respect of Aer Lingus. There is nothing to suggest that there would not be others in the future. The difference is that the Government, on behalf of the people, now has an influence over the connectivity, the sale and the disposal of slots from Heathrow to Ireland in that these will continue with certainty in the time ahead, which was not the case before yesterday. That is a fundamentally important element of the growth.

The transfer of the share to the Minister in the articles of association and the legally binding guarantee and veto by him on behalf of the people in respect of the slot disposal or slot change is a very important and stronger improvement on what was in place previously.

The pension scheme the Deputy mentioned has been very complex for many years and is not part of this proposal. I have had contact with people who have been involved in the pension scheme and with the very many Members who were also involved. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has spent a very considerable amount of time during the past 18 months trying to deal with the very complex situation. The Government is very happy to support this proposal and notes the support from Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports. The potential to grow the airline, connectivity and jobs and to strengthen our economy is a very important consideration. The protection of future jobs and growth is part of this opportunity.

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