A report drawn up by the top civil servant in the Department of Transport has revealed that she herself was aware of a possible threat to the Shannon to Heathrow route six weeks before she told the Minister.
The report, prepared by Secretary General Julie O'Neill, says she did not tell Minister Noel Dempsey about the matter because Aer Lingus had told her that no final decision had been taken, and that a 'range of options' was being considered on the future of flights from Shannon to Heathrow.
The report also repeats that Mr Dempsey was not informed of the problem until the end of July.
In a statement released with the report, Minister Dempsey said the officials involved have acknowledged that he should have been informed and apologised to him personally.
He said that because of this, and because of the way in which they have worked with him since he joined the Department, he has full confidence in the officials involved.
In the report, Ms O'Neill says that the Chairman of Aer Lingus John Sharman, phoned her on her mobile on the 15 June.
'I asked if the base were to be Belfast would it have implications for Shannon. The Chairman said that no decisions had been taken on how a Belfast base would be services and a range of options was being considered,' says Ms O’Neill in the report.
Ms O’Neill adds that to the best of her recollection the Chairman said the options being considered were a possible reduction of services on a number of routes using different sizes of aircraft and retaining at least some services to Shannon.
Ms O'Neill writes that the matter was not raised at a briefing for the Minister on aviation issues on the 19 June because the discussion was focused on other, more pressing and immediate issues.
However, the Department became aware in late July that a decision was imminent, and on 31 July she and the Assistant Secretary spoke to the chairman by telephone, for what she described as 'a robust conversation'.
Earlier today, the Government was accused of a 'political conspiracy' to cover up what it knew about Aer Lingus plans to withdraw from the Shannon-Heathrow route.
Both Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore attempted to question Tánaiste Brian Cowen in the Dáil this morning about a story in the Irish Examiner.
The story says Dermot McCarthy, Secretary to the Government, was informed about the Aer Lingus plans on 27 July but did not tell the Taoiseach.
Both men were ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle, although Mr Cowen said he rejected the assertion made by the Labour leader.
