Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I thank all Senators in the House for the discussion this morning and for their very measured and well thought out contributions regarding all of the issues surrounding Aer Lingus and aviation in general. Aer Lingus is not in crisis at present. The difficulty is that the aviation industry globally is in serious crisis. The evidence of that is apparent, whether one looks to the US airlines which fly the north Atlantic, all of which are in very serious difficulties, or to airlines in other parts of the globe which are also in enormous difficulty. We are very mindful of that.

The Government is very seriously and heavily engaged on this process. I assure the House that no discussion in which I have been involved has been driven by ideology. There is only one issue, that is the best interests of Aer Lingus and its staff and employees in developing a growing airline into the future. This is what this debate is about.

I want to make two points in order that the House may understand this issue. Aer Lingus has achieved a tremendous turnaround since 2001, from losses of €140 million in that year to where it stands today with a profit of €90 million plus. However, the profit of €90 million plus is a bit dazzling. The net profit of Aer Lingus this year will be approximately €5 million. That must be understood. Nevertheless, I congratulate everybody involved in a tremendous achievement. Aer Lingus is far and away the best performing traditional national airline in the European sphere of operations today. It is clear that many other airlines will not exist in 12 months' time, never mind beyond that. It is a fragile market and within that market the issue is the ability of Aer Lingus not just to develop but to grow into the future.

There is a very cogent, cohesive and important context regarding Shannon. Everybody understands the issues there. There was very good news this week. There will be more good news on Shannon because it is beginning to focus on the future, not the past, which is very important. I take on board the points made by my colleagues regarding the infrastructure deficit that must be addressed if we want to develop Shannon Airport, for example, the Galway connectivity to Shannon and passengers' accessibility not just to the European routes but to the transatlantic routes as well. No airline, and nobody in the aviation business, has said to me at any stage that there is a doubt over the demand for a sizeable Shannon market into the United States, and they see the potential for growth, new opportunities, new airports and new destinations.

Nobody questions the necessity for investment in the airline. However, it is important to make the point — Senator O'Rourke as a former Minister with responsibility for this area will be very aware of it — that, while it is very important, the issue is not merely about putting equity into Aer Lingus today but about the ability of Aer Lingus to react in a cyclical market. Aer Lingus and everybody else knows that, given the cyclical nature of the market, there will be downturns as well as upturns. The State's input in the medium term will be very limited, no matter what choices it makes today.

I stated in my earlier contribution that if the State were to invest funding or to decide to do this, it is inevitable the matter would go to the European Commission, and possibly the European Court, due to objections of many other airlines, of which some 90 fly into this country, a figure many forget. The issue concerns access to markets and the flexibility this brings with it because, inevitably, in a crisis, and there will be crises in this business, the State does not have options, whereas, with equity available there would be options for planning a better way forward. It would also mean that when finance was needed, one would have access to it.

We must not think only of the present but must give this airline all the opportunities it requires. Strategic issues are clearly involved and have been discussed in this debate. That these issues form the backdrop to the decision-making process is crucially important. I do not agree with the school of thought that suggests Aer Lingus should be sold off as one would sell off an asset or bauble. I have no interest in such a foolish move because the State has strategic interests in the airline. However, these strategic interests must be balanced with interests in regard to tourism, trade and growth, our island nation status and the huge potential growth of the north Atlantic routes for the company. This also applies to other airlines but we want to give Aer Lingus the best opportunity to be the number one airline on those routes, as well as looking towards Europe, the east and Far East.

Our airports and Aer Lingus have huge potential for the future and this is why the Government is so engaged at present in trying to have these decisions made and bring clarity to the process. We do not want to seem as if we are being rushed to make the decisions, but there is a sense that all sides need clarity. I thank my colleagues in Government for giving so much time to this issue and I assure all sides that the issue is not being jumped about. Time and thought has been given to this because we must make good decisions for the future.