Fine Gael has announced its intention of forcing a Dáil vote on Aer Lingus's Heathrow slots by tabling an amendment to a Government motion which will be debated on the first day of the Dáil when it resumes on Wednesday.
Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said yesterday that the Government motion covering the Shannon issue was an attempt to distract from its "abject failure to live up to its promise to protect the Aer Lingus Heathrow slots from our major airports".
He said the Government motion covered everything from the National Spatial Strategy, the National Development Plan, roads, rail and tourism, and was a smokescreen to cover the Shannon issue.
"My party will table an amendment which focuses solely on the vital issue of connectivity at our major airports and the failure of the Fianna Fáil Government to honour its pledge to preserve that connectivity," Mr O'Dowd said.
"We will not allow the Dáil to be used as another cog in the Fianna Fáil/Green spin machine. Instead, we will put it up to the Government to support us in our aim to preserve the slots or not."
He said Fine Gael did not accept that Aer Lingus was just another private company, as the Government retained 25 per cent of its shares in order to ensure that the State's strategic interests were protected.
"The strategic importance of Heathrow services to Shannon, Cork and Dublin was stated consistently by Fianna Fáil, and it publicly signalled its intention to intervene and use its shareholding if these services were threatened. Next week we will ask the Government to do what it promised it would.
"If the Fianna Fáil Government fails to act in this case, and if this principle is accepted now, there will be nothing to prevent Aer Lingus management transferring slots from Dublin or Cork to airports outside the country in the future."
Meanwhile, Fine Gael environment spokesman Phil Hogan said that the first 100 days in government of the Green Party had been marked by complete submission to Fianna Fáil, and yesterday's new building regulations were the smallest fig leaf possible to cover the party.
"The Greens' self-serving decision to get into power has resulted in 100 days of policies abandoned, priorities ignored and principles jettisoned, and today's announcement will not hide their total submission to Fianna Fáil."
The level of Green capitulation could be seen in the Programme for Government, which Green backbencher Paul Gogarty admitted was "copied and pasted" from the Fianna Fáil manifesto, and in their conduct in the first 100 days.