Government 'would be nuts' to block Aer Lingus takeover

The Government is being told it would be "nuts" to pass up the opportunity of the International Airlines Group (IAG) bid for Aer Lingus.

The group has pledged to use Heathrow slots for Irish routes for a minimum of five years if the deal gets the go ahead.

It has also

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Pat Byrne, chief executive of Rainmaker Business Technologies, and non-executive chairman of Cityjet believes the Government is failing to grasp the big picture of the opportunities this deal would bring for Ireland.

He has warned that the Government should not adopt a "protectionist" attitude.

"I think there's an opportunity here for Heathrow, Madrid and Dublin to become a major hub - and not just westwards, but probably also east and south as well," he said.

"I think we'd be absolutely nuts to pass up this opportunity from an Irish perspective to get on the… IAG train.

"And I think that we'll see expansion of jobs, not contraction of jobs."

Taoiseach Enda Kenny had earlier said the Government would seek "cast iron assurances" from the International Airlines Group before consenting to any takeover.

The Taoiseach said that all issues will be considered in due course.

"We have to examine all the detail of that, and the minister will report to government in due course," he said.

"I haven't seen anything more that wasn't referred to the media."

This morning will see interested parties from the business, tourism and hospitality sectors discuss the proposed deal at a hearing of the Oireachtas Transport Committee.

Committee chairman John O'Mahony expects recommendations will be drawn up when everyone has had their say.

"The likelihood is that we may still have to hear some further from some other people, but obviously then we'll be discussing all of what has emerged at the hearings and feed that in to the minister and to the department as to the views of all concerned," he said.

"Obviously, we may come up with recommendations ourselves as well."