Aer Rianta has extended the time given to the consultants examining the future of the Great Southern Hotels, the Minister for Public Enterprise said.

Ms O'Rourke said the report on Aer Rianta, last month, said it should no longer be involved in the hotel sector.

She said that the Great Southern Hotels had a loyal, professional group of employees who were, and would continue to be, a key factor in the continued success of the group.

She said the chairman of the board of Aer Rianta had extended the appointment of Andersen Consulting to examine the options further. Any decisions on the group's future would be taken only "after the fullest consultation, in particular with the staff of the hotels, and with the overriding objective of maintaining and maximising employment."

The Minister was replying to a Fine Gael private member's motion calling on the Government to review the Aer Rianta proposal to dispose of the hotels, so as to ensure that they were retained as a single commercial entity.

The Fine Gael spokesman on public enterprise, Mr Ivan Yates, said allowing the best of the group of eight hotels to be "cherry picked" would undermine employment and some of the hotels could deteriorate into seasonal accommodation. He said the group had a turnover of £26 million and a profit of £3.5 million last year.

Debate on the motion continues tonight.