Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome the statement of clarification that was provided for the House by the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey. It is not my intention to make the Minister's job more difficult. There are more than enough Opposition Members who will do so. The importance of this issue is illustrated by the fact that so many Members wish to contribute to the debate. I am thankful to my colleagues, including our party spokesman and particularly Senator Callanan, for allowing me to address the issue. As the crow flies, I am probably the closest of our group to Shannon. While many arguments have been proposed for retaining the Shannon-Heathrow service, I do not intend to go over old ground by reiterating them. A number of such valid and cogent arguments were made by various groups both within and outside the region.

I wish to comment, however, on the negative social and commercial impact this decision is having on our region. People have said those effects are exaggerated and that we are whingeing, but employers and workers in the mid-west are not whingers. They have delivered consistently over the years and have been both proactive and successful. In addition, we are fearless in taking on challenges and when we express concerns they are real ones. Regional equality is an important issue, which has been brought to the fore as a result of this matter. All regions should be cherished equally. This is a test case that must be won if we are to restore any form of balance between the over-concentration of economic activity in the greater Dublin area and the east coast generally and that of other regions. It will be won. I am confident our Ministers will deliver on the issue one way or the other. It is of paramount importance that they do so. Those who elected me to the Seanad are public representatives from the mid-west region. They are not fools and will not be easily fobbed off.

The manner in which Aer Lingus handled this matter from start to finish beggars belief. I cannot understand how the decision was taken exclusively by the chief executive and other executives, with virtually no consultation, input or involvement by the board of directors. For many years, I had the privilege of serving as a director on another important transport board in the region, namely, the Shannon-Foynes Port Company. Any action taken by that company was discussed and approved by the board and no executive would have got away with making a decision that had not been properly thrashed out at board level. I welcome the fact that the Minister is appointing two additional directors, but my concern is that it may be a bit late going to the fair. They are welcome nonetheless if only because they will be able to hold a watching brief for the other regional airports. I hope these directors will protect Cork and Dublin Airports.

As a businessman I understand that all companies are inspired and motivated by profit. Their raison d'être is to make money and nothing else. I oppose what Aer Lingus has done because it makes bad commercial sense to leave a market which it has dominated and which has supported it to go into new terrain. Experts have responded unfavourably to this move.

As people who aspire to a united Ireland we were thrilled to see a company in which the Government holds a 25% stake being greeted by and on such good terms with Ian Paisley. That has given us food for thought about what a united Ireland would mean but nobody, not even our friends in the North, would have wanted that progress to occur at the expense of another region.

This problem must be solved. The alternatives to a Heathrow slot are not credible. For people to say that we can do business in Luton or Stansted is like someone shouting from the sidelines at Colm "the Gooch" Cooper when he has the ball in front of an empty net and telling him to pass it back to the goalkeeper and let him score from there.