Jim Higgins (Fine Gael)

She certainly could not have been more rigid than she was at that time.

The 14.9% employee share option is excellent. We do not know whether it will be used as a carrot to induce the staff of Aer Lingus to accept privatisation, but it is a good principle.

The new pension arrangements are very welcome. Section 3 of the Bill relates to the power of the Minister to sell or dispose of the Minister's shares. I worry to some extent about that because the Minister does not have to return to this House with separate legislation.

After Eircom, I do not know about the attractiveness of the sale. It does not seem to be as gilt-edged as Eircom looked at the time of the grandiose promotion to sell the company to the public. Of all businesses to try to sell, something in the airline industry is probably among the more risky offers one could put on the market. The question of saleability will have to be confronted on another day. At the end of the day, the Minister is the main shareholder.

Tributes have been paid to Mr. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of Aer Lingus, and rightly so. He has performed a miracle. He has brought Aer Lingus to the stage where it now competes directly with Ryanair, the other main Irish operator. That is a good thing. Senator Wilson said it is worth paying that little bit extra to Aer Lingus rather than to the airline he did not name. Aer Lingus is cheaper on a number of routes. If one goes to aerlingus.com one can sometimes get better value than one would get from its main competitor.