There were sharp and heated exchanges in the Dáil during the ongoing controversy about Ryanair’s proposal for 300 aircraft maintenance jobs at Dublin airport.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny claimed the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) was running the country, and he said the failure to agree with Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary about the lease or sale of a hangar was “failure by excuse”.
He accused Taoiseach Brian Cowen of not being in charge and called on him to intervene personally and call Mr O’Leary’s bluff.
He said: “You own 100 per cent of DAA and 25 per cent of Aer Lingus. Ryanair owns a further 29 per cent of the latter. You can intervene, as you did in other cases, to secure these jobs.”
Mr Cowen insisted, however, that whatever Mr Kenny thought, “the Government and State bodies cannot act unlawfully”. But Labour leader Eamon Gilmore claimed it was not a case of acting unlawfully.
“You are not acting at all.”
He said the issue was not about hangars but about strategic jobs.
But Mr Cowen said the 300 jobs could be saved and there were three options. There were two other available hangars that Ryanair could use or they could build another hangar.
“The suggestion here is forget about the law.” He added that Mr Kenny seemed to think it was a case simply of “taking out Aer Lingus, putting in Ryanair and away we go”.
Ceann Comhairle Seamus Kirk at times had difficulty maintaining order as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen got involved in heated exchanges with Mr Gilmore when the Labour leader mentioned the loss of jobs at Waterford Glass.
Mr Gilmore said that if they still had the money Mr Cullen had wasted on electronic voting they might have saved jobs at Waterford Glass.
An outraged Mr Cullen shouted back: “That’s completely untrue. That’s untrue and you know it.” He said he did not make the decision on his own. It was a decision of the Oireachtas, he said.
In a statement issued this evening, Ryanair dismissed the Taoiseach’s claim that the DAA was contractually bound to Aer Lingus.
A spokeswoman said suggestions that Aer Lingus's 20-year lease over the hangar could not be broken were "untrue".
She said Tánaiste Mary Coughlan had confirmed at last night's meeting with the airline that Aer Lingus's 20-year lease had a 12 month's notice clause in it, which allows the DAA to request Aer Lingus vacate Hangar 6.
She also disputed claims made by Mr Cowen that there had been a competition for the Hangar 6 lease and that Ryanair "did not make an offer" for the facility.
The Unite trade union, which represents aircraft maintenance workers at the airport, called on Government and Ryanair to “sort out the mess” regarding the jobs.
“It is very rare that a union will agree with Michael O’Leary,“ said spokesman Jimmy Kelly.
“This should be nothing to do with personalities though, and everything to do with the future of 300 highly skilled workers and their families,” he added.
Mr Kelly said: “Politicians on every side are playing games with workers futures. The Government has acted too slowly again to save jobs that will be the making of our country’s future.”
Additional reporting by PA