Cardinals show Aer Lingus way forward: There may have been white smoke at the Vatican this week but there's still no sign of the Government filling the vacant chief executive's seat in Aer Lingus.

As if to reinforce the point, former chief executive Willie Walsh shared the stage at the Irish Management Institute conference yesterday with none other than Minister for Transport Martin Cullen.

The cardinals may indeed move faster than the Cabinet in some matters, although the Minister did his level best to demonstrate at least a semblance of clear thinking on those testy aviation issues that seem to beset his Department.

That didn't stop high-level delegates from all corners of the business world delivering their own judgment by laughing at Cullen's assertion that decision time had come in relation to the ownership of Aer Lingus and the new terminal at Dublin Airport.

Free of the shackles of his former office, Walsh delivered the uncompromising message that the time for talking had passed.

"Aer Lingus should be privatised - I don't see why the debate should continue," said the incoming British Airways boss.

Ever the entertainer, Walsh raised more than a few laughs himself when he rubbished the musings of Minister for Tourism John O'Donoghue in favour of the State holding on to the Great Southern Hotel Group.

Department of Communications head Brendan Tuohy told a gag about a New York priest complimenting a conference on poverty.

"I can't wait for the one on celibacy," said his companion.

It was Cullen though who received the biggest laugh of the day some minutes later when he declared during a debate on regulation that "no one has ever accused me of being celibate, anyway".

We'll take the Minister's word for it.

Healthy outlook for private operators

There is good news for the private health insurers in the top secret Consumer Strategy Group Report, a copy of which came into Current Account's hands this week.

As part of its study the strategy group did some work on what consumers trends will be like in 2020 and asked participants in two workshops to paint a picture of how the world will be in 16 years time.

VHI, Bupa and Vivas will be pleased to hear that participants in the workshops assumed that healthcare funding and provision will be expensive and not free at point of access.

They also believed the State may well withdraw from the frontline provision of healthcare, presumably leaving the field open to the private suppliers.

It will be interesting to see if things turn out this way.

Even more interesting will be seeing if the Government summons up the courage to publish the strategy group report before 2020, given its controversial recommendation that the Groceries Order be scrapped.

Satellite stalemate

The growing importance of broadband for small and medium-sized firms was graphically illustrated this week when 450 companies had their satellite service cut off by their supplier Digiweb.

Digiweb, a Dundalk firm that was recently awarded contracts by the State to deliver broadband to 1,426 schools, is in the midst of a bitter dispute with its European satellite provider Satlynx.

And its customers - many of whom are in rural areas and have no alternatives - are suffering the blackout.

Satlynx suspended its supply contract with Digiweb on Monday alleging that the firm is in breach of its contract.

Yesterday the broadband service was still not available to the 450 firms, many of whom had paid set up fees of €1,000 or more for connection.

Current Account received several calls from companies this week complaining about the lack of information provided by Digiweb, which was still marketing its satellite service after it had been cut off by Satlynx.

The Government will have to hope Digiweb's customer service improves when it begins supplying broadband to schools over the next few months.

That is, of course, if its service is up and running.