Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the praise for the Acting Leader for his organisation of the meeting of the British Irish Parliamentary Association, BIPA. Praise for him was echoing around the halls because the guests he brought into the country enjoyed the occasion very much. One whom I met, who is strongly of the Unionist persuasion, told me not to let British Airways take over Aer Lingus because when it took over British Midland the service on the Belfast-London route deteriorated.

I welcome the statement issued by the Government at 14.41 today: “. . . the information and commitments that have been provided to date do not at present provide a basis on which the Government could give an irrevocable commitment to accept an offer to dispose of its shares, should one be made by IAG.” That is very important because more and more the information is coming out that the slots are far from being protected by British Airways taking over Aer Lingus because mergers such as those between KLM and Air France, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines require slot divestiture and that is how the European Union seeks to promote competition in the sector. These particular arrangements, apart from being leaked on an hourly basis to the media have not been furnished either to the Oireachtas or to the European Commission. On Sunday it was announced that the trade unions and the Labour Party were in favour and the news did not even last until lunch time as the real facts got out. At the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, said it was in favour and its members dissented pretty quickly. The Irish Tourist Industry Confederation, ITIC, said it was in favour and its members dissented fairly quickly. The Chairman of Aer Lingus said the board was in favour but could not tell us what the vote was. This project is being pushed strongly in public relations terms but not in economic terms.That is why the statement of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport at 2.41 p.m. that he is not yet moved by anything he has heard is most welcome. The real debate on this matter has not started.

Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty of Rome warn us that when two producers who are supposed to compete start to collude and make billing and cooing noises then the rest of society should be jolly worried about what is afoot. This is an industry which tends towards cartels, as it did in the past, and we need a strong competition policy developed.

I looked at Barcelona Airport which is a hub airport deserted by Iberia. Ryanair carries far more passengers to Barcelona than either British Airways or the Iberia airline - the two partners in IAG. As I have already pointed out, British Airways does nothing on the north Atlantic from Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh or Belfast and, therefore, its sudden interest in Irish regional airports must be taken with a very large dose of salt.