Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

The Government parties have the capacity to ensure the policies that are required will be developed and delivered in the coming years.

In regard to the decision to sell a partial interest in Aer Lingus, the Minister and several other speakers observed that Aer Lingus requires access to working capital in order to ensure it has the capacity to compete with other significant players in the market and to develop the type of route structures it has previously been unable to target. The necessary replacement of the fleet, and the long-haul fleet in particular, should allow Aer Lingus to target markets in the Far East and to ensure Ireland has a capacity to look further than mainland Europe and the United States. We are all aware of the importance of the emerging markets in the Far East, especially China. Their significance is recognised in the Government's Asia strategy as is the importance of developing business links——