Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to state my position on this matter. I welcome the decision made by the Minister and the Government on the disposal of the minority shareholding of 25.1% because it has been made after careful consideration. It is in the best interests of the country, Aer Lingus, Aer Lingus employees and the economy as a whole.

It is interesting to note that no member of the two major Opposition parties and most of the Independents are not present for the debate, despite their protestations, grandstanding and turning this issue into a political football. Their negativity is appalling. This morning the acting leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Timmy Dooley, said he had been taken unawares by the unexpected decision announced on Tuesday evening. I found that amazing. In view of what is happening and the publicity this issue has generated in the media and the entire country in recent months, everybody was expecting that it would be brought to a conclusion. I compliment the Minister on bringing it to a conclusion without further delay. A decision was urgently needed because the longer it went on, the more likely it was it would have a negative impact on Aer Lingus and the air industry.

I compliment the Minister on making himself available for discussions. My colleagues in RENUA Ireland may not be aware of this, but he was very disposed to meefing us and met us on numerous occasions to clarify and deal with issues raised. Of all Ministers, he briefed us extremely well on it.

I also welcome the decision as a rural Deputy for County Tipperary. One might wonder why we would be bothered about airports, but we are as concerned about connectivity as anybody else. Mr. Tony Ryan who founded Ryanair probably got inspiration from Thomas Davis, the editor of The Nationin the 1840s, who described Tipperary as the Premier County. He said this because "where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows." That is certainly the case in the aviation industry.

Now that the issue of the shareholding is out of the way - Ryanair spent a lot of time concentrating on putting pressure on Aer Lingus - Aer Lingus can get on with managing its core business. In the future some entrepreneur - there may be one in our midst - might set up another airline, now that Aer Lingus has been consolidated as part of a larger group. That larger group will afford an opportunity to provide much greater connectivity to Ireland and fly to many more cities, particularly in the United States and Europe. With pre-clearance facilities at Shannon Airport for travellers to the United States, many people from elsewhere in Europe will be able to fly to Shannon Airports and onwards to the United States where they will not face delays. The agreement which I welcome has tremendous potential.

Deputy Peter Mathews was concerned about the departure time of 3.45 p.m.

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