Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 93 of 3 April 2007, the reason he is not taking the action as outlined in the response to the question. [21354/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The safeguards put in place at the time of the IPO against disposal of slots, as outlined in the reply to parliamentary Question No. 93 of 3 April 2007, relate only to the sale of slots and/or transfer of slots between airlines and do not apply to the re-allocation of slot pairs to new or existing bases.

The slot protection mechanism set out in the Articles of Association was agreed with the EU Commission following extensive consultation. At the time of the IPO, it was recognised that there was a need to balance the State's strategic interests in relation to Heathrow slots with a need to allow the company to have reasonable commercial flexibility in its operations.