Aer Lingus dispute
Bríd Smith raised further Aer Lingus cancellations, worker frustration and executive pay while the dispute was before the Labour Court. The Taoiseach declined to interfere, urged both sides to find a solution, and said industrial disputes can only be resolved by agreement.
Aer Lingus announced today that it is cancelling a further 76 flights, which is on top of 392 already cancelled. I do not think anybody welcomes the disruption, uncertainty or confusion that this dispute has caused.
At the same time, while the two sides, IALPA and the company, go into the Labour Court today, we learn that Lynne Embleton, the CEO, received €300,000 in shares and that is on top of the whopping €2.8 million paid to three top brass in 2022. They will have received much more last year. Can the Taoiseach imagine how a group of the most responsible workers in the world, who take us safely into the air, keep us safe up there and land us safely, feel when they hear those kinds of figures, when they are looking for a figure that will keep their pay in line with inflation? To be honest, I believe the pilots are doing us all a service, because all workers deserve inflation-related pay increases to manage the cost of living and be able to stay on top of the rises that are happening. Despite the disruption, would the Taoiseach agree that when the Red C poll shows 38% of people, the majority of people, favour the strikers, that indicates all workers deserve an inflation-related pay rise?
Comment on this
I doubt that many people in this country favour strike action and I think most people, as the Deputy said, want to see an end to the disruption. I am very conscious the least helpful thing anyone in this House, most of all me, could do is wade right into this while Labour Court hearings are under way today. A huge amount of work has gone in to get to this point. I thank both parties for agreeing to attend and the Labour Court for agreeing to intervene. All I will do at this stage is really encourage both sides to dig deep to find a solution. The only way an industrial relations dispute is resolved is with two things, engagement and compromise. It is up to both parties to decide whether they wish to bring about a resolution now, which will always end in engagement and compromise, or put the travelling public through more chaos. I certainly hope it is the first.