Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Aer Lingus's parent company, IAG, has informed investors of its €10 billion war chest to see it through the pandemic.

They are currently in talks to acquire additional airlines in Spain and Austria, all the while taking advantage of wage subsidy schemes in Ireland, England and Spain.

I wish to raise concerns about the actions of Aer Lingus management in the Dublin area in terms of restructuring plans. Up to and including today, unions have been looking for meetings with Aer Lingus management in Dublin and they have been refused. I would like to row in behind my colleagues and ask the Minister to write to them. I know he cannot direct them, but the State is helping Aer Lingus to a significant degree, as well as its employees, with the temporary wage subsidy scheme. The very least the Minister could do is write to them and ask them to engage with the unions in a much better fashion.

I am sure Michael O'Leary's potential bonus payment of €100 million never entered his head when he encouraged us all to pack in and mask up on the national airwaves last week, but what is the Minister's opinion of his statement that it is safe to fly, of his criticism of public health advice from Irish officials and his statement that if we put on masks, bump up the hygiene and limit contact, we will all be grand? What is the Minister's take on Mr. O'Leary's rather cavalier attitude towards public health?

Has the Minister been approached by airlines for financial assistance? If so, which ones? If any commitments are being made to financial assistance, I impress upon the Minister that they must involve provisos on emissions reductions, improvement in employment practices, and ensuring that no bonuses go to executives nor payments to shareholders in the near future.

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