Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 312: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the measures he will put in place to safeguard the Heathrow slots at Shannon, Cork and Dublin Airports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24063/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Arrangements to safeguard Heathrow slots are built into the Company's Memorandum and Articles of Association. The effect of these arrangements, at present, is that any disposal of Heathrow slots can be prevented by 30.4% of the votes cast at an Extraordinary General Meeting. 25.4% of the shares in the Company are held by the Minister for Finance on behalf of the State. Also, under the memorandum and articles of association, the State is entitled to appoint three directors to the board of Aer Lingus. Currently, there is only one State appointed director serving on the board and it is now proposed that two further appointments will be made.

The State appointees will seek to ensure that all future decisions of the company that have implications for wider Government, aviation or regional development policies are considered and decided at board level. This will give the State appointees the opportunity to raise the public policy implications of each decision and to ensure that the full commercial implications for the company are taken into account.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 313: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine the costs incurred to date by the Government in the privatisation of Aer Lingus; the costs paid to consultants, finance and legal officials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24064/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The total costs incurred by the Government in respect of the Aer Lingus IPO amounted to €6.2 million. The bulk of these costs relate to fees paid to the underwriters and financial advisors amounting to almost €4 million. Legal fees amounted to €1.4 million and additional ancillary expenses amounted to €800,000.