Punchestown was a ready-up in the winners' enclosure by the two Cabinet Ministers involved. Last Wednesday, I referred to the PWC report commissioned by the Minister for Transport, which showed that, as stand-alone airports, Shannon would not be viable and Cork would be a serious loss maker. The Taoiseach then said the report would be made available to both sides and the Minister, Deputy Brennan, agreed. However, that had not been done when discussions took place last Friday between the unions and management. Two days later, RTE corroborated my version of the contents of the PWC report, but the question was not put to the Minister as to why he misrepresented the contents when he said that, if the historical debt had been stripped out, the two airports would be viable. The report said nothing of the kind.

I now have new information which relates to the memo brought to Government on 14 October. Apparently, the July decision of Government prohibits Exchequer funding in future for Shannon or Cork airports. The competitive implications of that are disastrous in their knock-on effects for the eight regional airports, especially Kerry, Galway and Knock. There are sensitive issues relating to the pension entitlements of the workers. I have the actual text of the Department of Finance view, which is as follows:

The Minister notes that the memorandum expressly states that the legislation may require review as issues evolve in relation to share capital and regulation by the aviation regulator. Furthermore, consultants with significant legal input are being engaged as advisers to assist the Department of Transport in all aspects of implementation of the restructuring process. The Minister for Finance therefore considers that the drafting of heads of a Bill and the introduction of legislation at this stage is premature and, accordingly, is not in agreement with the decision sought. The drafting of legislation should be done when all issues are resolved.

Why is the Minister for Transport proceeding against the advice of the Minister for Finance and his Department and creating chaos in the immediate industrial relations environment and, more importantly, putting regional airports at risk? Deputy Kenny came from Knock this morning and I came from Sligo.

The Deputy's time is concluded.

In the new environment of a prohibition on State or Exchequer funding for Shannon and Cork, those airports will not be able to function. That is the implication for Knock, Kerry and Galway. Why was that concealed from the public? Why did the Taoiseach not make the reports available to the trade unions? He said he would do so last Wednesday.

The enormous aid and resources the Government gives to the airports are what is keeping those airports open. Every single seat is highly subsidised and that is what keeps the regional airports going. The considerable extension in the number of flights to those airports is due to those huge subsidies, as not one of them would be viable otherwise.

Regarding the Pricewaterhouse report on restructuring, my information is that back in March Pricewaterhouse prepared certain financial information for the Department to assist it in advising the Government on the commitment to greater autonomy for Shannon and Cork airports. The report was highlighted as containing sensitive information and, in particular, it referred to the Aer Rianta Eurobond loan and the listing on the Dublin and London stock exchanges, among other issues. PWC information was used in the memorandum for Government which recommended the establishment of three separate airports. Last Wednesday Deputy Rabbitte gave the impression that this was hidden information and did not form the basis of the Minister's presentation but that is totally incorrect.

It is still hidden.

That is totally incorrect. It was part of the memorandum that came to Government. The current position is that there was no formal PWC report as such but an analysis of the projections provided by Aer Rianta was undertaken by PWC to assist in this process. It made no recommendations whatever on policy, in spite of Deputy Rabbitte's comments last week that these were policy recommendations which were put forward. There is no difficulty in sharing this information with the trade union movement apart from the sensitive data. That is the position. The Department of Transport is in consultation with Aer Rianta to make sure the issues of commercial sensitivity are dealt with and when those are addressed the information can be made available.

As I said last week, it is the Minister's view that both Cork and Shannon have an excellent future with this debt-free start. He brought this view to Government last week and the Government agreed with him. The new boards at the independent airports in Cork and Shannon will provide dynamic futures for those regions and it was on that basis that the decisions were made. I understand there is continuing engagement with the trade unions on matters of concern to them. Department officials met the Aer Rianta unions last Friday to discuss issues related to the current stopover policy and future meetings have been arranged, though I have no dates for them. The Minister has repeatedly stated publicly that Aer Rianta workers have nothing to fear from the restructuring. There will be no diminution of their tenure or terms and conditions of employment. That remains the position.

The one part of the Taoiseach's response which was not scripted for him will cause alarm throughout the regions in terms of its implications for the regional airports. He said, "every single seat is subsidised." We know that. What will happen when they are not subsidised and the regulator prevents them from being subsidised? Is the Taoiseach telling the people that Knock, Galway and Kerry will shut down? What is the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy O'Donoghue, saying about the implications for Kerry? What is the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Fahey, saying about the implications for Galway? What is the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, saying about the implications for Knock? Why was this concealed? Why is the Taoiseach proceeding when the Minister for Finance says he may not proceed at this stage because none of the essential work in unravelling the Aer Rianta corporate structure has happened and because it is necessary to get advice on borrowing, bond arrangements and pension entitlements, all of which are complex? The implications for the regional airports will be disastrous if the Taoiseach presses ahead.

The Taoiseach says the unions may have the information except for the sensitive data, but every single page of the PWC report has "sensitive data" marked across it. The Taoiseach is the one who said in this House that they could have the report. The Minister for Transport told journalists they could have the report but when they met last Friday they were not given the report. The Taoiseach has no intention of giving them the report. Furthermore, it was the intention to conceal the advice of the Minister for Finance and his Department in this situation.

The Aer Rianta situation, like so much that the Minister for Transport touches, is a shambles. It is like the port tunnel or the Red Cow. You name it, it is a shambles.

The time is concluded.

The Minister thought it was a marvellous idea, in the interests of competition, to break the airports into three. He looked at none of the implications then – he looked at them afterwards.

I ask the Deputy to give way to the Taoiseach. He has already gone over two minutes.

It is like the proposal to put the Red Cow interchange on stilts. Did anyone ever hear anything so ridiculous? When will the Taoiseach get a grip on his Cabinet? The incompetence of Minister after Minister is shameful and now they want to break up this company, with all that that implies for regional Ireland.

I am glad to hear people are worried about regional airports. I am around long enough to remember how hard people worked to make sure we did not build them in the first place.

Hypocrisy.

We have to listen to that.

The Government has been totally supportive of regional airports. Year after year we have given enormous subsidies to keep the airports open. We have been listening to talk about issues relating to Shannon and Cork for years. People in those areas want autonomy and separate companies within the Aer Rianta structure to market their regions and to get flights which suit their timeframes; then they will not depend on decisions made in Dublin. All the technology companies in Cork and Shannon, in particular, have pointed out time and again that they cannot bring in inward investment and extend otherwise. I have heard this point made by Michael Dell himself and others who are significant employers in the region. They have to be allowed a say in their own region—

Give them autonomy.

—so they can bring in more business.

The Government is stopping Aer Rianta from making decisions.

Deputy Ryan wants Aer Rianta, Dublin, but he wants Shannon and Cork to be part of Aer Rianta, Dublin, also, with no consideration for the regions. That is not the Government's policy.

That is not what I said.

What I said last week was that sensitive information cannot be given but most of the information can and will be shared with the trade union movement.