Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

An amendment has been tabled on No. 2 in the names of Senators Power and Wilson, which I believe is in good faith and will help the inquiry. I hope the Government will see its way to accepting it, although I am sure the Minister will address that at the correct time.

I wish to raise the issue of the potential sale of the Government's stake in Aer Lingus and the takeover approach that is being made by IAG or British Airways. I have raised this with the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton on a number of occasions. I do not think it is coincidental that we have had €750 million written off the deficit in the pension fund that was doubled over the past two years. The Government passed that legislation, and this month all the pensioners within the scheme are losing six weeks' pay while the deferred pensioners are losing over 50% of their income. The deficit in the fund is gone and, lo and behold, we have had three offers seeking to take over a company, which has over €400 million cash in the bank, for €1.3 billion. I am aware that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe has said he will very carefully consider this offer, and I welcome that. However, the Minister also said he would very carefully consider the proposals to change the workers' pension schemes within Aer Lingus. That leaves me very little faith in what this Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will actually do.

Under the terms of the Aer Lingus Act 2004, any potential sale of the Government stake will go before the Dáil, but it will not come to the Seanad. The purpose of keeping the 25% stake was to ensure that the strategic interests of the country were always to the forefront of decisions being made by Aer Lingus. The Act gives the State the ability to appoint representatives to the board and make sure that we maintain our connectivity with the main transport hub in Europe, Heathrow.

As a result of the IAG takeover of Iberia, more than 4,500 jobs have been lost at that airline. There is no question that if this takeover is permitted hundreds if not thousands of jobs will be lost within Aer Lingus. IAG will then get its hands on €420 million in cash reserves built up by Aer Lingus.

They are getting a very good airline very cheaply, if the Government permits this. I listened with interest to some Ministers who were, rightly, commending the staff over the years who have made supreme sacrifices to turn Aer Lingus into a profitable, viable airline that carries more than 11 million passengers a year. They are the same staff, many of whom are retired, from whose pensions this Government has taken six weeks' pay and whose future pension entitlements it has reduced.

The Aer Lingus Act does not allow the Seanad to have a say in the disposal of the shareholding. That is fair enough. That is the law. I ask that before a decision is made by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe - I do not know what his and the Government's timeline is - the Minister, who has been a very good attender here, would come to the House and allow a debate here. There is no point in talking about it after the event. Many of us, myself and my party colleagues, want to clearly put to the Minister our absolute opposition to the sale of the 25% Government stake and the takeover proposal by IAG. This is of fundamental importance to this country. I will not table an amendment to the Order of Business today, but I ask the Leader to seek assurances that the Minister will come to this House to take statements on this proposal.