Labour describes Aer Lingus sell-off as eircom mark-two
The Labour Party has strongly criticised the Government's decision to sell off a majority share in Aer Lingus to raise the funds needed for the airline to expand.
The Cabinet approved the privatisation plan yesterday as part of a package of aviation proposals that will also see a second publicly-owned terminal being built at Dublin Airport.
Responding to the move, Labour TD Róisín Shortall said taxpayers had spent millions building up the state airline only to hand it over to profit-hungry investors.
"The minister spoke about the possibility of the Government retaining a shareholding that would influence the future of the company," she said. "That's absolute nonsense.
"It's been found that the whole idea of a golden shareholding just simply does not stand up and has already been struck down by the European Court of Justice on the grounds that it's anti-competitive.
"So essentially, what we're talking about here is eircom mark-two, in my view."
The IMPACT trade union, meanwhile, has called on the Government to ensure it does maintain a long-term stake in the airline.
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