I am calling on the Ministers for Finance and Education to rule out any sale of the Government’s stake in Aer Lingus in order to protect jobs and connectivity in the Mid-West. IAG has come forward with a third offer for the carrier worth €2.55 a share. Any such sale could see Aer Lingus’ critical Heathrow slots siphoned off, risking future connectivity and jobs at Shannon airport. IAG’s pursuit of Aer Lingus is becoming more aggressive with every passing week, and I am gravely concerned by Minister Noonan and Minister OSullivans silence on the issue. I’m calling on them to categorically rule out any sale of the Government’s 25% stake in Aer Lingus, and by doing so effectively block the IAG takeover. The fallout from any sale of the airline is being dramatically underplayed. The threat to the valuable Heathrow slots could see the Mid-Wests access to international destinations severely curtailed, as many of the routes to Asia, America and Australia are serviced through the airport. As we live on an island, the continuation of these slots is of major strategic interest; Ireland is highly dependent on exports and tourism and the Heathrow slots are valuable commodities in maintaining our links to the wider world. These routes are a major enabler in facilitating inward investment as well as boosting our tourism figures. The decision of Fianna Fáil Governments to maintain a strategic and significant shareholding in Aer Lingus was with a view to protecting the country against long term threats to our connectivity. That was the correct decision then and it is the correct decision now. Dumping this stock in order to create a €300 million plus slush fund to help win the election would be a major mistake that the travelling public will quickly regret. Not only are the Heathrow links under threat if a sale proceeds, there are also major concerns about possible job losses. IAG’s takeover of IBERIA resulted in 4,500 redundancies; if the same scale was applied to the Aer Lingus situation, around 1,000 people could be let go. The Government and our local Ministers must act to ensure that it does not allow Aer Lingus management to cave to any bid from IAG. I’m calling on Minister Paschal Donohoe to make a statement declaring that he will use the State’s 25% shareholding to block any IAG outright purchase. Ireland’s strategic national interests must be protected and that will not be done through a quick fire sale, which relinquishes valuable slots at Heathrow, risks up to 1,000 jobs and gives away forever an important strategic asset.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:00:03 +0000
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