I have recently been concerned at the manner in which some State bodies under my aegis have been commenting through the media on Government policy in relation to the Shannon stop. As the Deputy will appreciate, decisions on policy are a matter for the Minister concerned or the Government to decide, as appropriate, and the function of the State bodies is to implement such decisions. Furthermore, there are clearly defined channels through which State bodies can make known their views on Government policy.
All the State bodies affected by Government policy on the Shannon stop have been given the opportunity to make known to me their views on the matter and to make submissions in that regard. Against that background, I wrote recently to the chairmen of Aer Lingus, Aer Rianta and Bord Fáilte asking that there be no public pronouncements by the organisations concerned on the Shannon stop issue and that anything further they wished to add to their submissions on the subject be communicated to me or my officials through the normal channels.