Michael O'Leary: Shane Ross may be good Transport Minister; Jury is out
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said the "jury is still out" on Transport Minister Shane Ross.
Minister Ross has come under criticism over his comments on the judicial system, failing to fill key state board vacancies and his handling of the Dublin Bus dispute.
However, speaking after a business briefing in Mullingar this morning, Mr O'Leary said Mr Ross is in a difficult situation given the make-up of the Government, and that he may yet prove to be a good Transport Minister.
"He's (only) been there for six months," he said. "He's certainly talking the talk - he's talking about a competing third terminal (and) a low-cost second runway.
"If he delivers that in the next 12 to 18 months, I think he will turn out to be a very good Minister for Transport, but the jury is out until we see the delivery."
Addressing the 'Business in the Midlands' conference, Mr O’Leary, who lives in Westmeath, said of Brexit: "Britain is in a difficult position over Brexit and they have no idea where it is going...They are in danger of running themselves off the edge of a cliff in the next couple of years and we’ll all suffer.
"If Britain does decide to go ahead and leave, they will have no negotiating power so the other EU countries will be very hard on them,” he claimed.
“That will ensure a hard Brexit with very slow growth over the next two years, which would be deeply damaging for both the UK economy and the Irish economy – certainly for Irish tourism which depends hugely on UK visitors.”
