It is not just in the health area that the Government and Ministers are running into difficulties. Has the Taoiseach given the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport an option on a job share, where he can balance his ministerial responsibilities with a role as a mouthpiece for the management of semi-State companies in their battles against the workforce? It seems that, not content with his unfettered access to the airwaves last weekend, where he could berate and bully Dublin Bus workers and warn them that if they have the audacity or neck to vote for a fifth time against attempts to reduce their pay and conditions, those conditions and pay would be butchered anyway, with the full backing of the Government.

Yesterday the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, came into this House during Topical Issues and it was like an audience with Christoph Mueller himself. Against a backdrop of an unprecedented move by the Aer Lingus CEO to ignore the industrial relations machinery of the State, Deputy Varadkar told us that it had nothing to do with him and our 25% shareholding was irrelevant. Then he told us that the increased traffic into Shannon Airport was a good thing, and nobody would disagree with that. However, he then boldly stated that IMPACT's objections to the new arrangement would make the Shannon cabin crew base commercially unsustainable for the company and it would have little choice but to close that base. That is utter nonsense. Four competitive US airlines operate aircraft on that route out of Dublin and all of them operate it with a cabin crew complement of six staff. None of them has a problem with commercial unsustainability. A cabin crew of six is the industrial norm.

Let us be clear. The real agenda here is to stand on and erode working conditions built up over generations and to facilitate a race to the bottom. The staff were prepared to consider a staffing arrangement of four or five, but were told it would be four or the base would be shut down. Shutting the base down involves the loss of 87 Aer Lingus jobs, some of which have been held for decades. This is a declaration of war. Is this a deliberate strategy? To take on one group of workers may be deemed a misfortune, but to take on two looks like a deliberate policy of union busting. Given the Taoiseach has unleashed Christoph Mueller in Aer Lingus and is now sending him into An Post, is the Government engaged in a deliberate policy to eliminate secure, permanent, pensionable employment and to undermine the industrial relations machinery of the State? If it is not, will the Taoiseach order his hound dogs into the Labour Court to deal with these issues in the traditional way?

The Deputy has had a good flight there.

Aer Lingus or Ryanair?

The Government will have a crash landing yet.

The Deputy has gone from the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, to Dublin Bus, Aer Lingus, Shannon and cabin crew staff. I am not in the position of ordering any hound dogs anywhere. I understand the ballot is taking place in respect of Dublin Bus. I hope the strategy is accepted and that there is a clear result from the ballot. People in Dublin need Dublin Bus to provide its valuable service. The majority of the workforce in Dublin Bus have accepted the recommendations. I hope that when the ballot result is known, the service will continue as it is an important service, particularly towards the end of the year.

With regard to Aer Lingus and the decision regarding the number of cabin crew required to service aircraft Aer Lingus intends to fly across the Atlantic, there is still an opportunity for discussion between the union and the company. I hope those discussions will take place and a solution will be found.

The Taoiseach's response was brief and he was very keen to trivialise some of the issues. The problem for the Taoiseach is that it is not about going around the globe - ranging from the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, to Dublin Bus, Shannon and An Post is not about being long-winded - but about a system and approach being adopted by the Government to systematically undermine decent wages and conditions in the semi-State companies. There is no other explanation for it.

It was not the workers who ended the talks. The workers were engaged in discussion with management, but management pulled the plug in a draconian way - in a company in which the State owns a 25% shareholding. That did not just happen in regard to the cabin crew. The Taoiseach is aware there is a pensions crisis in Aer Lingus. The same chief executive has sent into the Labour Court a negotiating team that does not have a mandate and which is refusing to deal with that crisis. At stake here are serious issues for workers. Will the Taoiseach order his chief executives in the semi-State companies to engage in the industrial relations machinery in the State? For once, could he stand behind the workers who built those companies, rather than behind the management who are trying to erode their terms and conditions of employment?

Hear, hear.

The machinery for negotiation here is well known. Workers, unions, company directors and chief executives are entitled to engage regarding the affairs of any of these semi-State companies. Members are aware of the contribution the semi-State companies have made over the years and of the dividends being paid by a number of them that were not paid previously. They are aware of the changes that have been made and the changed work practices that have been brought about. There is an opportunity for union and workers to engage with management in respect of Aer Lingus. The period for engagement is short, but the opportunity should be taken.

I did not hear the Deputy mention An Post in her first contribution. That company is not the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Varadkar. I hope that the new ballot in Dublin Bus, which provides an important service for this city, will result in the proposals being accepted and that Dublin Bus and its workers, who do such an important job, get on with the business of providing a valid service for the people of this city.