When a Government is untruthful with the people it is the responsibility of Opposition to hold it to account. On Aer Rianta, the Government has been dishonest with the people, untruthful with those who work in Aer Rianta and misleading of the people in the regions. No business case has been made out for the proposed changes at Aer Rianta and no business plan, not even a screed of paper, has been made available by the Minister, Deputy Brennan.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which I brought into this House a week ago, shows clearly that on its figures Shannon is not viable as a stand-alone airport and Cork is a loss-maker.

I have more faith in Shannon Airport than has the Deputy.

Allow Deputy Rabbitte to continue without interruption.

The response of the Minister, Deputy Brennan, was to deny that there was a PricewaterhouseCoopers report and then to misrepresent its contents.

That is not true.

The Taoiseach's response was to say in this House that he would make it available to both sides in the discussions. The Minister, Deputy Brennan, corroborated that but he refused to do it.

I never did that.

In the information I brought before the House yesterday it is clear that in respect of competition and regulatory implications of this decision—

Where did the Deputy get the memo?

Never mind where I got the memo.

Allow Deputy Rabbitte to continue without interruption.

If the Minister wants to know where I got the memo, I might ask him questions about what he got from Michael O'Leary.

The Deputy might tell us what he got from Frank Dunlop?

The Taoiseach refuses to address the question of the regional airports. In yesterday's report he said that people in the regions want autonomy and separate companies within the Aer Rianta structure. What does that statement mean? He sought to give the impression in The Irish Times this morning that he is moving for autonomy within the Aer Rianta structure. What does that statement mean? How can he reconcile autonomy within the Aer Rianta structure with stand-alone status for Shannon and Cork? Does it mean anything other than an attempt to muddy the waters, or is the Taoiseach rowing back? Is he going for autonomy within the Aer Rianta structure or is the Minister, Deputy Brennan, and Michael O'Leary pulling his strings? What is the business case for this move and why is the Taoiseach not honest with the workers in Aer Rianta and the people of the regions? The regulatory and competition implications for the regional airports—

On a point of order—

A point of order is not allowed on Leaders' Questions.

I got nothing from Michael O'Leary, and I hope Deputy Rabbitte is not claiming that I did.

Deputy Rabbitte should withdraw the remark he made.

The public does not know what statement to believe from the Minister as he makes a new one almost every hour of the day.

The Minister should stop digging.

An allegation was made and it should be withdrawn. The Deputy should prove it stands up, otherwise be a man and withdraw it.

I got nothing from Michael O'Leary.

In response to Deputy Rabbitte, I repeat what I said yesterday, that the proposals for the restructuring of Aer Rianta went to Cabinet on two occasions—

The destruction of Aer Rianta.

—last July when the overall policy issue was decided and again recently when the Cabinet approved the heads of the airport Bill. As is standard practice in memoranda to Government, the documents laid out in detail both sides of the argument contained in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. The Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, has made clear, inside and outside the Cabinet, that he is fully supportive of the restructuring measures. He and his Department remain supportive of them, but requested, as they should do, that complex issues arising from the restructuring, such as capitalisation, transfer of debt, the future of subsidiaries, shared services, security of employment and terms and conditions of pension entitlements, all of which are important for the staff, are resolved before the Minister finalises the legislation establishing the three independent and fully autonomous State airport authorities.

I confirm this was a Government memorandum, I believe it was the first memorandum. There were two documents, one of which was left at a meeting, which was picked up by a journalist and returned last Christmas, and another one was attached to a document that was circulated. However, this is the first one that has vanished from a Department and a Garda investigation commenced this morning to establish how Deputy Rabbitte got this document. Whether it was taken, given over or stolen will be investigated in due course.

The Taoiseach would be better off sending a garda to Mulhuddart.

It is the Minister's intention to ensure that all the necessary legislation is completed. Drafting is proceeding along these lines. However, the issues can be resolved. There are ongoing meetings with the company and the trade unions on them. Consultants will advise the Department on how best to resolve these complex issues. I repeat what I said last week, that when market-sensitive issues are removed from the documents, they will be shared with the trade unions and staff representatives of Aer Rianta, and the Government has no difficulty with that.

It is all truly covered.

There is no threat to the subsidiaries for regional airports under the public service obligation contracts, as was stated in the House yesterday. On the contrary, the Minister remains committed to maintain support for the regional airports. Almost €20 million is spent subsidising them. The PSOs are not deemed to be State aids. They are EU-sanctioned and are exempt from State aid. It is not true, as Deputy Rabbitte asserted, that State airports would lose their status if there was a transfer of the debt.

Irrespective of the restructuring process, there are issues regarding the regional airports that need to be addressed and the Minister will deal with them. The Government's position was dealt with properly in Cabinet. The Minister for Transport has up to five reports and I have seen them. He is prepared to share these with Aer Rianta representatives. Deputy Rabbitte may have been given these documents, but it is my understanding that Aer Rianta staff already have them. The Minister for Transport is prepared to share them with all the staff and not just a few.

I have absolutely no idea what that last answer from the Taoiseach means, and I do not think he does either.

That is nice.

There are more useful purposes the Taoiseach might put gardaí to than prohibiting this information from being put in the public domain, information which, in the public interest, ought to have been put in the public domain by the Minister.

It is a memorandum. It is a different issue.

I made no reference to having a Government memorandum.

Unfortunately for Deputy Rabbitte, the text he used was only the text that was in the Government memorandum and not in the other literature.

The Deputy is a slow learner.

This is time wasting.

The Taoiseach is interrupting. He should be called to order.

Order, Deputy Rabbitte without interruption.

The Taoiseach missed his profession as his calling is obviously as a detective. He has plenty of—

Deputy Rabbitte, we cannot have cross-questions between you and the Taoiseach.

I never produced or referred to my having—

That is not the point.

The Deputy should not be so smart in quoting exactly—

You need to get smart if you are to keep these guys in office for much longer.

Deputy Rabbitte, you must address your remarks through the Chair, please. Your minute is running out rapidly.

It was used up by the Taoiseach interrupting.

The Taoiseach used it up.

What do you mean by saying that I should address my remarks through the Chair. You are permitting the Taoiseach to interrupt me.

I called on the Taoiseach to resume his seat to let you continue.

The same rule applies to both sides of the House. This is a change of tune. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, in this morning's newspapers suggested that powerful forces are trying to block the break-up of Aer Rianta. What powerful forces caused the break-up of Aer Rianta in the first place?

Hear, hear.

Why, against the advice of PWC, commissioned by the Minister, and of the Department of Finance, information on which I gave the House yesterday, is the Government proceeding with this break-up? Why does the Taoiseach now say casually that he is in favour of full autonomy and independent stand-alone status for Shannon and Cork airports when he gave the impression yesterday that he was in favour of autonomy within the Aer Rianta structure? What is the position? Is the Taoiseach in favour of stand-alone status or independence within the Aer Rianta structure?

Does the Taoiseach know what he is talking about?

That is what the people in the regions want to know. When will we see the business case? Where is the business plan to evaluate this proposal? When will the Minister for Transport tell the workers of Aer Rianta the implications for their pensions in the new arrangement? Does the Minister intend to go to the High Court to bring about the break-up of Aer Rianta? Will he be frank with the House on the obstacles that he has encountered from a legal, regulatory, competition, financial, capital bonding points of view? When will he put this into the public domain? Why is he proceeding against the advice that he commissioned?

Deputy Rabbitte likes the idea of a monopoly.

He must answer the question.

There are ongoing meetings with the trade unions on all the issues to do with the finalisation of pension entitlements, security of employment, terms and conditions, shared services and the future of subsidiaries. All these matters have to be resolved. The Minister—

Why is there not a business plan?

—has engaged consultants on this issue.

How can the Government do this without a business plan?

Deputy Seán Ryan is not the leader of the Labour Party and should not undermine his leader.

There is no business plan.

The Deputy is like a muppet.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers document has dealt with the issues around the viability of this matter, including the debt and other substantial issues. These will have to be dealt with in legislation to be brought before the House. The Minister for Finance has made clear that he would like all these issues resolved before the legislation is introduced.

Big deal. Rubbish.

Obviously, when changing and restructuring one company—

Does the Taoiseach agree with him?

—into three separate companies, there has to be substantial change and it will be implemented in legislation. Deputy Rabbitte is entitled to disagree with this, but all the interested groups in the regions have stated that they want autonomy for Cork and Shannon airports.

Within or without the structure?

For some considerable time they have not been happy that they get a fair shot within the present structure. They want more autonomy to develop their regions—

With security.

—as geographical locations and to do business in a more effective way. That is their stated position and the business plan will help these regions and allow them to develop.

A few shopkeepers in Cork are the only ones to have spoken on this, chambers of commerce.