Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join in the congratulations to everyone who was in Dublin Castle on Saturday and, in particular, our great colleague, Senator Norris.

For some of us, this is a sad day. The Government has presided over the sale of the Irish national airline without reference to the Oireachtas transport committee. They did not even have to give the Taoiseach the papers when he went into the Cabinet meeting this morning. My office was told by the Department of Transport yesterday that it was not on the Cabinet agenda. This is an appalling way to proceed. We need that national airline. The conduct of British Airways shows contempt for this House, for this Parliament, for an independent country. It has gone to a British quango, the Competition and Markets Authority, to force Ryanair to divest its shares in Aer Lingus so that British Airways can take it over.

This is an outer offshore island that needs to access transport. This is an outer offshore island from which Aer Lingus has developed nine transatlantic routes. There are none from Scotland, which was a major factor in the rise of the Scottish National Party in recent elections. Angus MacNeil, the transport spokesman, said that British Airways neglects Scotland. It has no routes to North America. We are trying to develop this country, yet we are handing over the national airline to an airline whose track record is not to provide services from Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham or any other region of the UK to North America. We need that North American investment. I am calling for the suspension of Standing Orders to make the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, come to the House and say what he is doing.I remind the Minister that two thirds of the people surveyed in The Irish TimesIpsos MRBI poll opposed the privatisation of that share of Aer Lingus, including a majority of the supporters of the Fine Gael Party and a strong majority of the supporters of the Labour Party, Sinn Féin, the Independents and Fianna Fáil. Why is a 21% share in an airline which we, the citizens, owned being given away for a paltry sum by the Cabinet today? Apparently it has adjourned and intends to meet again in the evening to complete this foul deed, which is not to the advantage of this country. It is anti-competition, anti-consumer and anti-development.

I believe we should suspend the Standing Orders to force the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to come to the House because we, as Members of the Parliament, have not been supplied with the documentation. It also has not been given to the transport committee and it appears from the Taoiseach's interview this morning that he was not given the papers either. This is a shoddy way for British Airways to proceed with its business-----