I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the up-to-date position on Aer Lingus, the chairman of which resigned in July. I understand its acting chairman is due to resign on 3 January. The Taoiseach's dithering on policy and the way forward for Aer Lingus provoked the resignation of the chief executive and his two chief officers, including the chief financial officer. The chairman has resigned and the acting chairman is about to go. So far the Government's only response has been the Taoiseach's outburst in the House which served to undermine value in the company. When is it proposed to appoint a chairman to Aer Lingus? Is it not the case that until the Government fixes on a firm policy in terms of the future direction and ownership of the company, it will not be possible to find a quality chief executive or put an appropriate chairman in place? When will an announcement be made about the impending resignation of the acting chairman? Has a new chairman been found? Has the Government decided the future ownership of Aer Lingus and the future direction of that important company?

I have to correct the Deputy. The last chairman, Mr. Tom Mulcahy, resigned from Aer Lingus due to issues unrelated to the company. To put it in that light is a total misrepresentation of the facts. The current chairman, which is doing a good job, took over when Mr. Mulcahy felt it was important to resign because of unrelated matters. I still do not understand the motives for those who have recently resigned. They knew exactly the position of the Government. It was not a question of anyone not making decisions. The only issue we took up with them was the question of an MBO. There was no other issue or request.

The board of Aer Lingus met on Monday. It decided to begin the process of recruitment of a new chief executive by establishing a sub-committee comprised of the acting chairman and two other non-executive directors. It is charged with identifying and recommending the appointment of a replacement chief executive to the board. It also approved a challenging budget for next year, which is totally consistent with the implementation of the company's business plan. I do not deal with the day to day issues of Aer Lingus, but I completely support the business plan. The Cabinet sub-committee established to examine the issues relating to the future ownership of Aer Lingus had a meeting last week. It considered and published the Goldman Sachs report on the airline. It was agreed that a decision on the future ownership would be made before Christmas, in the interests of the airline and its stakeholders. We will have a meeting again on 9 December and some work is being undertaken by the Minister prior to that. Prior to any final Government decision, there will be engagement between the Department of Transport and the social partners on the future of Aer Lingus. The Cabinet sub-committee accepts that to do nothing is not an option, given the nature of the aviation sector internationally. We will make those decisions as soon as possible. We are dealing with an important State company and we will not be bounced into any decision. Far from dithering, we have turned around a company that was in major difficulty after 11 September 2001——

Allow the Taoiseach without interruption.

We worked with the management to turn the company around. Against what has happened internationally in aviation, Aer Lingus stands out like no other. We are glad that it has done that. That is the second time that we have had to do that in a decade.

Before the Taoiseach got to his scripted reply, which usually consists of a description of the problem and not an answer to the questions raised on this side of the House, he spent the first part of his answer telling me that Mr. Tom Mulcahy resigned for reasons that had nothing to do with Aer Lingus. I never said why Mr. Mulcahy resigned. I made no reference to the circumstances that caused him to resign. The Taoiseach answered a question that I did not ask and refuses the questions that I asked. The fact is that the Taoiseach was quite prepared to put the electoral fortunes of Fianna Fáil in north Dublin and in the Shannon region before the fortunes of the national airline. That is the issue. Having dug this hole for himself, having provoked the resignation of the chief executive and the senior management, what is the Taoiseach doing about it? It must be the final galling experience for Mr. Willie Walsh, whatever one thinks about the direction he was leading the company, to hear the Taoiseach seeking to claim credit for what he did in turning the company around with the workers, having berated him last week. The Taoiseach says he has nothing to do with the day to day business of Aer Lingus yet he claims that his Government has turned it around again. The workers and the management turned it around. The Taoiseach provoked the resignations purely for Inchydoney reasons and the electoral fortunes of Fianna Fáil. Now we are left without a chairman, an acting chairman, a chief executive and a chief financial officer. The national airline has no chief pilot and no chief navigator. The Taoiseach is still dithering and answering questions that he was not asked.

I might have misheard the Deputy saying that we had a former chairman leaving. Only one former chairman left, namely Mr. Mulcahy. If he was not referring to Mr. Mulcahy, I am not sure to whom he was referring. I heard him state that the former chairman had left and the former chairman was Mr. Mulcahy who left for a reason——

Answer the question.

The Deputy should not ask a question when he does not like the answer.

Come on, be serious.

When I say that we had turned it around, I am referring to the collective efforts of this Government. Following 11 September 2001, Aer Lingus was in a total spin as was every other airline, it took the efforts——

This sounds like total spin to me.

——of Mr. Mulcahy and others who were in Government buildings time and again to seek assistance. I did not handle that. The then Minister of Transport, Deputy Brennan, successfully helped them to turn it around.

His fellow socialist.

Allow the Taoiseach without interruption please.

The Taoiseach is entitled to exactly the same courtesy as every other Member in this House. Deputy Rabbitte was allowed to ask his question without interruption and the Chair will see to it that the Taoiseach is afforded the same courtesy.

The Opposition is moving to the right.

It is quite clear where we now stand.

It is quite clear the Taoiseach gave Deputy Brennan and Mr. Willie Walsh——

The Deputy had his time.

The Deputy must allow the Taoiseach without interruption.

They have got their instructions not to let me answer. It is quite clear what line Deputy Rabbitte is taking. He really does not care two damns about the management, the staff or the future of Aer Lingus, which is doing quite well.

I beg your pardon.

The Deputy is now defending the person who put forward the management buy-out, which was the worst of all options for Aer Lingus.

The Government has supported them all the way.

That is the defence. The Government was not going to go down that route. It will make the right decisions for Aer Lingus and for the management and staff.

These acting lessons are bad for the Taoiseach. He should go to the Gaiety Theatre to take some more.

We will not be dictated by anything other than the best interests of the company. The Labour Party loves to raise party political issues by calling meetings in the hangers and as soon as they are over, it does sweet nothing. We will not do that on this side of the House.