Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Senator Nicky McFadden.

We should be rightly critical of Aer Lingus for pulling the plug on Shannon. Despite all the assurances given in the past regarding the retention of the Heathrow slots in the national interest, it is, as has been stated in this debate, tearing the heart out of the region. In fact, it is worse than that. It affects the entire western seaboard. It has undermined the stakeholders. It has shafted customers and its staff. The directors, as Senator O'Toole stated, should be out the door.

The board is hiding behind the management in this matter and I do not understand how it has managed to get away with it. It must have known the Government would not act or lift a finger against it. It seems as though there was some collusion in what has happened because corporate governance would require — Senator Kelly quoted the correct position — that directors direct and lead; they cannot abdicate.

The Government, despite its 25% shareholding, has left Aer Lingus to freewheel. It was supposedly a golden share to prevent any alien takeover. If it was not that, the Government might as well have sold its shareholding, as has been pointed out. Connectivity is vital and it will not happen without the retention of those slots.

The other matter we cannot ignore here is that the former Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, misled the Dáil, because he confirmed the importance of the Shannon to Heathrow route in the Dáil debate that led to privatisation. He confirmed it was for reason of strategic national importance that the State was retaining its interest in the company, yet the Government has refused to utilise that stake in order to retain the use of the Heathrow to Shannon slots, despite it appointing a few extra directors. Why did the State need to retain any share in Aer Lingus if it is not prepared to use it? I contend the Government clearly did intend to use it in the national interest, so to speak, as outlined by the then Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen. Because management got away with a con, in a manner of speaking, and because the board refused to act, we are now left in the lurch.