Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It was interesting to listen to Deputy Michael McNamara voice his concerns about the proposal before us. He hit on the crucial issue - connectivity. I do not need to tell the Minister that, as an island nation, connectivity is essential to us for our economic development, the tourism industry, exports and imports and our overall prosperity. This is a very small island on the periphery of Europe and the economy needs to be consistent and secure. Connectivity is a crucial part of this and we should not jeopardise it by removing the links Aer Lingus provides. There is consensus among the experts who have spoken about IAG's offer that Aer Lingus is crucial to that connectivity as it controls many of the sought after slots at Heathrow Airport, which are the envy of many airlines throughout the world. The slots are crucial to Ireland's interests. The CEO of IAG is on the record as saying the company needs extra slots to serve the very profitable and expanding Asian and South American markets from Heathrow Airport. Any proposal by IAG to ensure extended access on Irish routes from Heathrow Airport will only delay the inevitable loss of these slots, whether in five or seven years. In the future the slots will be used to provide services on the more profitable Asian and South American routes because ultimately that is what it is all about. It is about profit at the end of the day. IAG does not have the interests of Ireland as its driving force in this offer. Its interests, rightly so, are its shareholders and profitability.

There are also very real concerns for the workers about potential job losses. We received some assurances today that there will be no compulsory redundancies. That is to be welcomed, but an assurance and a guarantee are two different things. The publication of the Nyras report raises a lot of concerns about potential job losses. One only has to look at the record of IAG where it has taken over other airlines. Many Deputies will have spoken about Iberia, in which nearly 4,500 jobs were lost after the takeover, prompting the Spanish tourism Minister to say in 2013 that the sale, two years previously, had actually proved detrimental to the Spanish economy. I have also not seen any resolution of the issues faced by workers regarding the Aer Lingus pension scheme and the cuts in entitlements that they are facing need to be discussed.

I do not understand why this issue could not have been sent to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications for at least one week in order that it could study the proposal in full and tease out the details of the Nyras report, which has now become available but which the Taoiseach has said he has not read to date. I do not know whether the Minister had the chance to read it before he brought the proposal to the Cabinet yesterday. If he did not, has it changed his opinion on the haste with which the Dáil is trying to rush this motion through this afternoon? Taking a week out and leaving the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications to do a job of work in analysing all aspects of this offer would be a prudent move. The outcome might very well be the same this time next week and we might still be voting on it, but we would at least be doing so in the knowledge that everything had been examined by a committee made up of members of all political parties and none in this Chamber. Questions Deputy Michael McNamara who raised some genuine concerns and other Deputies may have could be addressed at the committee. The Minister knows that committees do some very good work. The Joint Committee on Transport and Communications should be given such an opportunity in this case.

The short-term commitments from IAG will be of no use to Ireland in the future if we lose the slots held by Aer Lingus. The commitment to maintain jobs will ring very hollow when one looks at the thousands of jobs cut from Iberia. I do not think the guarantees are sufficient or that a two-day debate is sufficient. I, therefore, ask the Minister to reconsider.

There is no doubt that the proposal puts a great focus on and stresses the potential of Dublin Airport. Deputy Michael McNamara spoke about Shannon Airport and I want to speak briefly about Cork Airport, on which there is not much detail in the report. There is some mention of the possible expansion of routes, but in reality there is very little detail about Cork Airport. It is suffering enough as it is and the proposal could have a detrimental impact in the long term on regional airports, including Cork and Shannon. The Taoiseach said yesterday that the sale would do great things for Knock airport and would expand the routes out of it, but we have not received any assurance in Cork that routes will be expanded. One of the biggest impediments to Cork Airport is that the runway is not long enough to take international flights. Cork is the second largest city in the Twenty-six Counties and if we want to build economic hubs and attract foreign direct investment, surely Cork Airport needs to be expanded to enable it to compete on that front with Dublin and Shannon airports.

I have concerns about this proposal, as many other Opposition Deputies do. I know that the Labour Party raised many concerns when the deal was first mooted, but all of its Deputies bar one, to my knowledge, have now accepted the assurances given by IAG and the Government. Deputy Michael McNamara has indicated that he is unable to support the proposal at this time. The Minister may not believe it is possible to build a consensus across the Chamber because this is politics. The Government proposes something which the Opposition opposes. However, if he wants to build a consensus on an issue such as this which is of strategic economic importance to the long-term interests of Ireland, we need to get into the committee to discuss all aspects, including the Nyras report, and come to an informed decision. I implore the Minister to consider suspending the vote today, referring the matter to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications for three days next week and awaiting the outcome of its deliberations.

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