Vol. 446 No. 5
128 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has made an application to the EU Commission to have the restrictions placed on Aer Lingus at the time of approval of Government investment eased or waived in view of the more favourable treatment handed out in recent months to other State airlines including Air France, Lufthansa, TAP and Olympic Airways. [2409/94]
I have not made any application to the European Commission seeking the alteration of its decision of 21 December 1993 in relation to the Government's equity investment in Aer Lingus.
However, representations made to me querying the basis on which the European Commission arrived at its decisions in relation to other airlines were referred to the Commission for comment. In its response, the Commission stated that its decisions are fair and equitable in each case taking the particular competitive situation of each individual airline into account. The Commission holds the view that there is no basis for any complaint that other airlines have received better treatment from it than Aer Lingus.
