Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government has told us its decision was taken following detailed and careful consideration of all the issues involved in the potential disposal of the 25.1% share, yet we are aware of the circumstances described in the Nyras report. The Taoiseach and Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, said they did not see it. That is the first untruth and example of misleading information. There has been a fob-off. As Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan said, we came in to do certain business this week and were diverted into the business at hand. I have waited all day for my ten minutes in which to speak but the Government has allowed me only three. It is very magnanimous.

Of course, no one believes the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, anymore. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, referred to connectivity and stated the €335 million would go into the strategic investment fund for connectivity. Connectivity my hat. Aer Lingus will be gone. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine should recall the experience of the sugar industry and note the desolation in Carlow, Thurles and other areas of the country.

We sold out our industry there, which was a very vital industry.

We have sold off other assets like Eircom. Where is Eircom now? It takes a month to get a telephone repaired in any part of rural Ireland and if someone lives in a remote area, they will not even get a telephone line. Irish Ferries was sold and Irish Shipping is now in Chinese ownership. The Government's attitude to workers and deferred pensioners is "to hell or to Connacht", "to hell or to India" or "to hell or to Willie Walsh". The Government does not care. It never cared about ordinary people. One can go back to the Government of 1948 to 1952 which sold our investment in long-wave radio. Fine Gael has not changed its spots. The Labour Party joined it and Fine Gael beats it up, throws it around like pulp and browbeats it into voting with it.

This is an outrageous sham like everything the Government has done, such as Uisce Éireann. Big Phil has gone to Brussels. Where is Putting People First, the famous document for better local government? The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform now tells us that it was a mistake and he took his eye off the ball. The Government is a disgrace. It is forgetting about the regions.

The Government talks about the golden share. It will melt away as if it is a lollipop or candy floss in the mouth as quick as one puts it in. We all know that. If the Government did not have any support with a 25.1% stake, what will it have with its golden pellet or bullet? I know what will happen to its golden bullet and I know where it should go as well. The Government will go back and face the people and it will face them pretty soon. It got a lesson last week in Carlow-Kilkenny but there are many more lessons waiting for it because it has sold out the people who gave it its mandate.

The Government will not even give us time to debate this matter. It rammed this through here today. We got seven hours of debate. The Government should join a community employment scheme and work week-on, week-off because that is all it has done here in the past three weeks. We were running with two, three and four hours taken out of a day's work during the past number of weeks. The Government Chief Whip should be ashamed of the way he runs this Government. He only gives us seven hours to debate a strategic and important industry with so many jobs and so much activity. Government Deputies should hang their heads in shame and go back to their constituents tonight because the people are waiting for them.

Deputy Billy Timmins:I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for giving me some of his time. I do not necessarily agree with the sentiment he expressed but he certainly did it very emotionally. It is important to point out that since 2006, the Government has had no control over Aer Lingus, it is a private company and it cannot survive in its current form. Aer Lingus is a commercial company and must make its decisions on that basis. I am not a believer in Government having any role in running companies like airlines in the same way as I do not believe it should ever have had a role in running the Great Southern Hotels because it is not capable of running them. Government would be better served if it became a bit more efficient in running the things it is responsible for.

Aer Lingus management, the regional airports, the former CEO and Michael O'Leary of Ryanair are in favour of this. Who am I to argue with many of these players? I suspect that most workers are secretly in favour of it. Certainly, the most important people of all who have received virtually no mention in this House - the consumers - would be in favour of this. We all remember times when we could not travel to London on an aircraft given the price and we should acknowledge the role played by Ryanair in giving large parts of the population access to flying.

It is important to realise that we live in a global economy. Ireland is geographically an island but it is not an island commercially and economically.

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