Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Let us talk about tomorrow. Tomorrow, representatives of Aer Lingus will walk into the Labour Court. This is a company which made €225 million profits last year and is part of an international group which made €3.5 billion in profit, and its representatives will sit across the table from pilots who have not had a pay increase in five years. Of course, I do not want to see a strike. The pilots do not want to see a strike but the issue is whether they will have the opportunity to go back to work with a decent pay increase which covers the cost-of-living increases in the past five years. If they do, it will be settled. If not, it could be a very different matter.

In order to make the atmosphere better for tomorrow, I will ask the Taoiseach a question. Aer Lingus is leasing planes and crew from non-union airlines such as Privilege Style airline to break the industrial action of the pilots. This is an extremely provocative move, tantamount to union busting. It is opposed both by trade unionists in Ireland and in that airline's country of origin, which is Spain. The Taoiseach talks about the need for compromise and avoiding escalation. Will he give me a straight answer to a straight question? Will he call on Aer Lingus here today on the floor of the Dáil to cease this provocative activity and stop using non-unionised airlines to do this work?

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