Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I agree with Senator McDowell's interpretation of the section, which is paving the way for privatisation. I am absolutely delighted by the changed emphasis to slots over the past two months after an official said Heathrow Airport would do whatever it wanted with its slots, including giving them to airlines without necessarily being sold on. Suddenly the value of Aer Lingus goes up and down on the say so of an invisible bureaucrat or management type at Heathrow Airport. That demonstrates how dependent we are.

This is similar to the point made in jest about Senator Dooley and County Clare. A consistent theme of the Fianna Fáil Party is that privatisation is good but as soon as a State company is privatised and the level of service turns into a disaster, everybody wonders how it happened. The swings and roundabouts we have experienced regarding Eircom are precise and classic examples. If Eircom was still owned by the State, every house would have broadband because it would come through the copper lines but, as soon as Mr. O'Reilly and company got control of the utility, it was not worth their while providing broadband for households at Malin Head, west Kerry or west Clare. Senator Dooley would be a long time waiting for the company to provide broadband in the Loop Head area.

I disagree with Senator McDowell on one issue. The presence of two Fianna Fáil Members can be helpful given that many senior people in the party have grave doubts about the privatisation of a number of State transport companies. We might just be saved by this. The man in charge of transport has a clear view but the man in charge of the man in charge might not have the same clear view. The man in between might not have the same clear view either.

For example, a minimum level of service to Carrickbeg cannot be included as part of the sell-off of Aer Lingus. There are strategic issues involved in such a sale for both airports and airlines in terms of which other airlines can set up in the State. Every argument used against the threatened strike by Aer Lingus workers two weeks ago could be used to make a case against the sale of the company and the airports. However, the slots at Heathrow Airport are bottles of smoke. There is an ongoing row between British Airways and Qantas over a proposed merger because Qantas wants to use its transatlantic slots at Heathrow Airport for connecting flights between Birmingham and Heathrow and BA is unhappy about this. If that is the case, it will not happen. The slots are in the ownership of the airport.