Brendan Ryan (Labour)

We do not know what the correct figure is anymore. The Minister told Cork Airport but he will not tell anybody else. He will obviously wait until after the next general election. He informs this House that it was a readjustment that was necessary before the legislation was introduced in the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is in spite of the fact that part of his speech referred to the intention in the early stages in the airport restructuring process that both the independent Cork and Shannon airports would commence operations on a debt-free basis. Presumably, he did not deliver this part of his speech because even his neck would not extend that far. It now transpires that the readjustment process began once the Government was out of the gate and there was no plan for a readjustment beforehand. The Government either did not examine company law properly beforehand or ignored it.

It is clear that the former Minister, with the full knowledge of the Government, gave a speech which was inherently contradictory. Parts of the speech complied with company law, while others were full of sweeteners to keep Cork and Shannon happy. The former Minister and the Government knew at the time that they could not achieve both aims but they knew they would not get away with the restructuring process if they did not state that Cork and Shannon airports would commence operations on a debt-free basis. The Minister's statement was among the most brass-necked attempts to pretend that nothing has changed. After reading his script, he said an adjustment was required. He began his speech by telling the House that there was no difference between the former Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, and himself. "Adjustment" is a carefully chosen word.

We now know that the Government knew it could not do what it said it would, it made promises in respect of this that it could not keep and it could only have kept its promise on debt by breaking company law. The Minister should not play games about bank debt with me. A lease to Dublin Airport with a commercial obligation to make a repayment is the equivalent of a bank debt. There is no difference. It is an extraordinary exercise in verbal mincing to pretend that the former Minister was talking about bank debt. The basic idea was that the balance sheet of Cork Airport would be free of debt. A mortgage is a debt, borrowing is a debt and an obligation to repay for something is a debt by everybody's understanding except that of one person, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen.