Aer Lingus urged to pay the State

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has called on Aer Lingus to pay a dividend to the taxpayer for the first time in decades.

Aer Lingus has not paid a dividend to the Government in over 20 years. The Department of Transport has confirmed the last Aer Lingus dividend received by Government was £500,000 in 1991.

The airline’s accounts show its cash balance at the end of 2011 stood at €894.8m after recording pre-tax profits of €84.4m last year.