Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will take Deputy Barry's question first. I will meet the Irish Airline Pilots Association. I would be delighted to meet the pilots. I will discuss all issues which arise as a result of this situation. It would be perfectly fair to do that. I met the pilots already but not in recent weeks. We had a meeting that was extremely enlightening and interesting. We agreed to meet again. I will meet them and discuss any issues they think are relevant. We may not agree but I think it would be a useful exchange.

Obviously, I cannot intervene in issues that are before the European Court of Justice or that are being appealed to it. I do not wish to address that issue here as it would be inappropriate to do so. In the circumstances, I do not really want to say anything about the absence of trade unions in Ryanair but I have been in touch with Michael O'Leary in the past week and I will be in touch with him again this week. I expressed the views of the Government and the views of the travelling public that the events of last week should have been foreseen, that we could not understand why they were not foreseen and that what happened was unacceptable. My Department has been in touch with the Commission on Aviation Regulation and the IAA to ensure that Ryanair is complying with every necessary rule and regulation and that it is compensating passengers accordingly. Those organisations are satisfied that this is being done down to the last cent.

If the Deputies wish, I will report back to the House as soon as possible, maybe next week under Priority Questions or Topical Issues. Mr. O'Leary told me that he would get in touch with me again this week, when he has produced what he believes to be a comprehensive solution to the problem. I think he will announce that very shortly. My interest is to ensure that something as unacceptable as this should never happen again and to do so without interfering in the affairs of a private company.

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