The Labour Party has criticised remarks made by the Taoiseach who referred to former directors of Aer Lingus as management who wanted to steal the assets of the airline.
Bertie Ahern made the comments about directors who wanted to buy the airline in 2004.
He made the comments in the Dáil this morning during Leaders Questions. He was being asked about the privatisation of Aer Lingus by Labour leader Pat Rabbitte.
Although he did not named them, Mr Ahern’s comments were directed at former Aer Lingus boss Willie Walsh and the two former directors, Seamus Kearney and Brian Dunne.
The three executives tried to assemble a management buyout of the airline in 2004.
At the time Mr Ahern said he did not think such a deal would be appropriate.
This morning in the Dáil he went further. He said they wanted to ‘steal the assets airline and shaft the interests of the staff’.
The Taoiseach added he was glad the individuals involved had proved their worth in the financial markets.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach acknowledged that his use of the word ‘steal’ in relation to a proposed management buyout of Aer Lingus was ‘unfortunate’.
However, she stressed that the sentiments expressed by Mr Ahern about the MBO were not new, and had been expressed by him many times before.
