Vol. 204 No. 9
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he approves of the decision of Aer Lingus to associate themselves with a British stamp trading company by agreeing to accept vouchers issued by the company as part payment for airline tickets, thereby encouraging development of an undesirable growth on the distributive process, which will inevitably increase the cost of all goods to the consumer.
31.
asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he will ascertain from Aer Lingus if the Company received a communication from the Northern Council of the Grocers' Association in England objecting to their decision to associate with a stamp trading company and stating that they propose to recommend to their 30,000 members not to support the Irish airline; and if, in the circumstances, he will urge Aer Lingus to abandon the arrangement as soon as possible.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take questions 30 and 31 together.
I am aware of the arrangement referred to in the questions and that objections have been raised by certain interests. The decision taken by Aer Lingus is, however, a commercial one in which I do not propose to intervene.
