Vol. 545 No. 1
53 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the names and qualifications in aviation business and aviation business experience of the persons nominated by her to the board of Aer Lingus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29743/01]
Of the current board of Aer Lingus I have appointed the following people: Des Richardson was appointed on 13 November 1997. He is the executive director of the Marlborough group; Dr. John Keane was appointed on 3 December 1998. He is a consultant opthalmic physician with the Midland Health Board and member of their finance committee; Chris Wall was appointed on 23 Dec. 1998. He is a business consultant and also a member of the board of the Great Southern Hotels and director of several other companies; Paddy Wright, appointed as deputy chairman on 3 September 2001 and appointed as director in December 1992. He is chairman of the RTE Authority and chairman of Aon Insurance Brokers. He is also a director of the Jefferson Smurfit Group and Anglo Irish Bank; Tom Mulcahy, chairman, was appointed on 30 August 2001. He is a former chief executive of AIB; Willie Walsh, group chief executive was appointed on 21 November 2001. He has held a number of senior management positions in Aer Lingus including chief executive of Futura, the airline's Spanish based charter airline subsidiary between 1998 and 2000.
In addition to these current members of the board, I also appointed Mr. Michael Foley, former chief executive, and Mr. John O'Donovan former financial director, who have both since resigned.
The people I have appointed are of the highest calibre and bring a wide range of business expertise to the board.
