Aer Lingus sale will be good for job creation, Dáil hears

The sale of the State's share in Aer Lingus will create employment, Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe has insisted in the Dáil.

“It is envisaged that by the end of 2016, a new net 150 jobs will have been created in Aer Lingus, rising to a new net total of 635 jobs by 2020,’’ he said at the start of a day-long Dáil debate on the Government’s decision to sell its remaining share in the national airline.

The Aer Lingus brand would be protected and its head office retained in Ireland, he said. The airline would operate all its scheduled international air transport services under the Aer Lingus name, he added.

Mr Donohoe said he noted Aer Lingus’s “ current position that it does not foresee a likelihood of compulsory redundancy or non-direct employment”.

Mr Donohoe said the sale would strengthen the airline’s competitive position, reduce risk to the company and provide it with an opportunity within a larger group to face the challenges in a changing aviation environment.

It would promote Ireland’s wider connectivity, he added, and could bring growth to our airports.

It was anticipated the move would bring benefits to both Aer Lingus’s long-haul and short-haul networks within the IAG group.

“There will be a focus on sustaining and growing routes from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock,’’ Mr Donohoe added.

Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Timmy Dooley said the takeover bid "is anti-competitive and bad for consumers". He said he did not believe the State had any less of a strategic interest in the airline than it did in 2006.

“For the life of me I can’t understand how your Government has failed to see the importance of retaining that shareholding, to have that input,” he said.

His party remained strongly opposed because it understood what it took to get Aer Lingus to its current place as a publicly-traded successful airline.

Mr Dooley said there was nothing in any documents they had seen that “now is the time to castaway the strategic interest in a hugely important asset”.

Sinn Féin transport spokesman Dessie Ellis condemned the sale and said it would create years of uncertainty and economic difficulties for the State.

He said it was a “shrewd media operation” that showed blatant disregard for the Oireachtas. He hit out at the Government’s failure to refer the potential sale to the transport committee.

“This is the wrong deal for Ireland and Labour knows it, but they do not have the courage to act on that knowledge,” he said.

Fine Gael and Willie Walsh’s IAG “are thick as thieves” and the Labour Party, “having got the runaround, are being trotted out to say how all concerns have been allayed”.

Mr Ellis said Aer Lingus was worth infinitely more to Ireland than the € 335 million the Government would get for cashing in the 25 per cent share that Fianna Fáil left the State with.

The debate follows heated and intemperate exchanges in the House earlier this morning.

The Opposition objected strenuously as Wednesday’s business was set aside to make way for the day-long debate.

There were 64 TDs in the House for the row over the special debate, when normally just a handful of TDs would be in the chamber for question time, originally scheduled to be taken by Minister for Children James Reilly.

Just over 100 TDs were in place for the vote to revise the order of business to allow for the debate, which was accepted by 65 to 39.

Dr Reilly, Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald and Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe were on the Ministerial benches during the heckling and bickering exchanges.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin accused the Government of adopting a “slippery, sleeveen’’ approach to the matter.

He said the Government was trying to ram and railroad approval of the sale through the Dáil without adequate analysis or due respect for the institution of the House itself.

Mr Martin said the whole issue had been about orchestration of news media and management and showed an absolute contempt for the Dáil.

He said the proposed sale should be referred to the Oireachtas transport committee where there should be proper analysis on whether or not it was in the country’s best interest.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said the Taoiseach had refused to answer questions in the House on Tuesday on the issues surrounding the proposed sale.

“While the Taoiseach refused to answer any of those questions, at the same time the media was being briefed across all of this,’’ he added.

Mr Adams said the Dáil Opposition had been ignored and he repeatedly asked when would the documentation on the sale be shown to TDs.

Mr Kehoe said the Cabinet decision on the sale was only made late on Tuesday evening and the House had the opportunity today to debate the issue.

He said an email was sent to party whips at 7.43 pm and he said that the only whip available at the time was Sinn Féin Aengus Ó Snodaigh.

This followed a complaint from Mr Martin that the Chief Whip “did not have the basic courtesy” to phone party whips.

Labour whip Emmet Stagg said the whip's office did its duty and offered to respond to any whip who sought assistance.