David Norris (Independent)

I join with colleagues who have called for a debate on Aer Lingus. It seems quite extraordinary that a Government that promised us this would lead to competition has led us down an alley into which we will have a virtual monopoly. In addition, I understand that there are substantial funds — possibly in excess of €1 billion in cash — in Aer Lingus. Therefore, it is a really sweet deal for Mr. O'Leary as it is almost self-financing. Some of the advisers are people who also advised on the Eircom flotation. What concerns me in particular is that Mr. O'Leary is a clever man. One may not like what he does but he is certainly very shrewd. He is clearly setting out to alienate the workforce as much as he can. He is certainly not reaching out to them. In the weekend newspapers, he said he was going to slash jobs. He did not say "cutting"; he said "slashing". That is good management relations.