Last weekend, there was a spate of facilitatory interviews with the Taoiseach. I did not see them all, particularly the one on Setanta. This weekend I will be keeping a close watch on it, especially with the big match on. I do not know if the Taoiseach has an appearance booked yet.

He will be the second referee.

I did not hear the Taoiseach refer to the Aer Lingus issue in any of the interviews I read or heard. What progress has been made on bringing Aer Lingus to the stock market? Is it still the Government's determination to do so? Will it come to the market by the summer? Is commentary in the newspapers that the summer deadline has been missed really the case? What size share does the Government intend to retain? What are the problems that have headed off an initial public offering, IPO, by summer?

What are the difficulties in resolving the company's pension issue? What share of the IPO's proceeds will go into the company's pension fund? If the summer cut-off is not made and the various stories in the newspapers' financial pages are true, is it proposed to proceed to the market in autumn? In those circumstances will the Government make the deadline because if the sale passes June, a new set of accounts will have to be produced for an autumn sale?

What is the Government's assessment of the Air Berlin experience? Air Berlin went to the stock market last week but found it had to halve the expected share price with the subsequent reduction in income. In these circumstances, is it the Government's intention to proceed with the sale? It was banking on getting a paltry €400 million for the sale. If the Air Berlin experience is anything to go by, and with rising energy costs and the lack of market sentiment for airline stocks, we stand to get only €250 million. Will the national airline be sold for a mess of pottage as little as €200 million or €300 million? Is the Government reviewing its stance on this issue?

Following consideration of the report prepared by the advisers appointed by the Ministers for Transport and Finance on the investment transaction of Aer Lingus, the Ministers agreed proposals for the implementation of the investment transaction which were presented at a Government meeting in April.

The investment transaction is to be implemented on the following basis. In line with the Government's decision last summer, a majority of the Government's shareholding in Aer Lingus will be sold. This will be done through an IPO of the company's shares on the Stock Exchange. The State will retain a minimum stake of 25.1% in the company to protect the State's strategic interest. The transaction is to be implemented as soon as possible, taking into account Stock Exchange rules and market conditions.

A June date for the IPO was never mentioned by the Government. Last weekend some sections of the media speculated that the recent rise in crude oil prices could threaten the planned Aer Lingus IPO. The prospect of oil prices reaching record highs poses a risk for the entire economy. It is true that airlines are particularly sensitive to external shocks and global downturns. In the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001, several well-established airlines went to the wall. The primary reason behind the Government's decision to sell a majority shareholding in the company is to allow the company access to the financial markets so that it will have sufficient financial strength to continue to compete in the competitive global aviation market and withstand such shocks. It will be in a much better position to do so if it has a strong balance sheet.

The transaction will be implemented as soon as possible. It will take account of stock market conditions and the regulatory requirements that need to be fulfilled before a flotation can take place. The exact arrangements in this regard will be decided by the Ministers for Transport and Finance based on the professional advice available to them.

If the Government has decided to sell off the national airline, a decision I do not agree with, are the people not at least entitled to expect the Government to handle it competently? The Taoiseach's remarks are reminiscent of his climb down on decentralisation at the weekend. He has provided a door through which to escape when this collapses. If the Government is minded to sell off Aer Lingus, the Taoiseach will have to answer for why he personally routed the chief executive who proposed that at a time when it would have at least have brought in a few shillings for the Exchequer. Those market conditions no longer obtain.

The experience of Air Berlin, not dissimilar to Aer Lingus, cannot be ignored. We now hear the Taoiseach say that he proposed to go the market as soon as possible but his advisers must take into account market conditions. It is most likely, if the Taoiseach now accepts that he has missed the June deadline, that the situation will further worsen by September. Where and in what kind of mess does that leave us? Having had the experience of Eircom, an unmitigated disaster, where £70 million was paid out in fees to advisers, the Taoiseach is paying out more fees while telling the House, in effect, that the prospect of an IPO in September or October are minimal and, if it does happen, it will be to give away the national airline for a song, leaving this trading island nation with no control over future air links.

The situation since forcing out the chief and top executives, when market conditions were more propitious, seems to indicate that we are heading into another example of this Government's incompetence when it comes to doing the simple things well.

Deputy Rabbitte's short-term and long-term memory are not good this morning. As I said earlier, June was never put forward as a date. The Government would be totally irresponsible to go to the market without the advice of our financial experts in this area. We will go to the market when the time is right based on the advice we get. It is still the view it can happen this year.

I am surprised Deputy Rabbitte is taking up a position that was opposed by every trade unionist in Aer Lingus, when management wanted to steal the assets for themselves through a management buy out, shafting staff interests. Deputy Rabbitte is now defending that position.

The Taoiseach's own 11 backbenchers could not justify this. They did not even turn up at the meeting.

I am glad those individuals went on to prove their worth in the financial marketplace but at least they did not do it by taking the assets away from Aer Lingus.

That is the Taoiseach's job. He will finish what they started.

I cannot understand Deputy Seán Ryan's logic that a management buy-out was better than an injection of capital. Why does he oppose the trade unionists in Aer Lingus? This is wrong.

Fianna Fáil backbenchers were afraid to go out and justify this privatisation.

The State will retain a minimum stake of 25.1%. We will make our decisions based on the advice we get on stock market conditions. We will do this correctly to allow Aer Lingus to develop in future. Discussions on pension funds and related staff issues are ongoing, the Minister for Transport continues to have meetings with the trade unions.

Everything will be all right then.

Why is the Labour Party against the Minister for Transport meeting the trade unions on pension issues?

He might try to sell them e-voting machines.

Why has it abandoned the staff of Aer Lingus? I will have to ask Deputy Glennon to assure the workers that we still care about them in this House. He will assure them that we will take their interests in pensions and other issues into account.

He does not even know where the airport is.