Ryanair News

 
News Release
26.02.10

Taoiseach must correct Dáil lies

RYANAIR CALLS ON TAOISEACH TO CORRECT THE RECORD OF THE DÁIL BY WITHDRAWING THE FALSE CLAIMS HE MADE ABOUT RYANAIR ON 17TH FEB LAST
 
Ryanair, the world’s largest international airline, has today (26th Feb) published an open letter to the Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD and the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan TD requesting that they correct the false claims they made in the Dáil on 16th and 17th February last concerning Ryanair’s repeated offers to purchase or lease the Hangar 6 facility in 2009.
 
In particular Ryanair has called on the Taoiseach to withdraw the four false claims he made about Ryanair’s offer to create 500 jobs in Hangar 6 on17th February last when he wrongly claimed in the Dáil:
  1. “There was a competition”.
  2. “Michael O’Leary and Ryanair for whatever reason did not compete for the hangar”.
  3. Ryanair did not “seek ownership of the hangar”.
  4. Ryanair did not “seek a lease for it last September”.
 
Ryanair has sent the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste a copy of its correspondence with the Minister for Enterprise between February to September 2009 in which Ryanair made repeated offers to buy hangar 6 or lease it (through the IDA) and in return Ryanair offered to create up to 500 well paid aircraft engineering jobs in the facility. Because of the Tánaiste’s failure to lift a finger to win these jobs, the first 200 of them were lost to Glasgow Prestwick last month and the balance will be announced in a new hangar development in Continental Europe in the next two months. The final negotiations for this facility will be concluded over the coming two weeks.
 
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:
 
“We sincerely regret that these 500 jobs will be lost to other EU countries because the Tánaiste, and this Government, won’t lift a finger to create real and sustainable jobs for the 1,000 SRT aircraft engineers who were made redundant last year. If the Taoiseach of this country is willing to lie to the Dáil in order to cover up the abject failure of the Minister for Enterprise to take up an offer of 500 jobs from the world’s largest international airline, then it doesn’t say much for this Government’s job creation strategy or its honesty either.
 
“Sadly it appears that the DAA and the Government would prefer to lease Hangar 6 to Aer Lingus who will shortly make another 900 people redundant, rather than Ryanair who could create 500 new jobs. It appears that companies who are losing jobs in Ireland get rewarded, while companies like Ryanair, capable of creating and sustaining jobs here in this country are dismissed”.


Ryanair Letter to Taoiseach and Tanaiste

 
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