Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a Cork phrase. It is a colloquial expression. The Government is pretending everything is rosy in the garden and everything is going to be all right but it is very clear that this is not the real story. It is quite shocking. The Taoiseach would not tell us about this the other day in the Dáil. He had to have an orchestrated and managed public relations exercise on Tuesday night before coming in yesterday morning to ram this through the House. I now know why. If this was left hanging around for a couple of days, God knows what else would come out. People would find out the truth.

There is a long list in the report. It states that Aer Lingus's main cost disadvantage is in cabin crew fixed overheads. One can imagine if a company is going to buy the company, it can see the bottom line for profit. Workers would be seen as just numbers, with terms and conditions being immaterial and inconsequential, it seems. We have had no discussion about that. In summing up, the report concludes:

We believe that the airline should set aggressive but achievable targets for short-haul cost efficiency at a minimum of €60 million or €5 to €6 per seat. This should in turn be co-ordinated with the CORE programme initiatives.

It also lists the various reductions in a table of minimum potential savings. The figures are €2.9 million for ground handling and €5 million for overseas bases. There is a comment, "Can we drive better pilot utilisation?", with €1.8 million pencilled in. The cost base for cabin crew would be down another €1.1 million. There is a suggestion of hangar efficiency and heavy maintenance going to eastern Europe. The report mentions a detailed review of IT accommodation staff and so on.

I do not believe the Minister has been up-front about this. Maybe he did not know about this report, and if he did not, it is an even more serious matter. That is why the issue should not be rammed through. The Government rammed through legislation for Irish Water and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, and now we have the same issue with Aer Lingus. There has been no proper assessment or analysis; there has been spin over substance. Above all, the workers deserved to have been told the truth about the implications of this sale and where Aer Lingus is heading.

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