The Labour Party has insisted that splitting Aer Rianta into three separate companies will lead to serious annual losses for Shannon and Cork Airports, even if they do not have to carry some of the debt of the parent company.
Party leader Pat Rabbitte said this warning was contained in an analysis by consultants PriceWaterhouse Coopers, who pointed out that their calculations take no account of the loss of economies of scale that will result from the break-up of the company.
After Deputy Rabbitte raised the matter in the Dáil this morning, the Department of Transport said that the PwC report forecast financial difficulty for Shannon and Cork if they had to carry some of Aer Rianta's debt, but the Government had decided that this would not be the case.
Pat Rabbitte said the PWC report raised very serious issues which demanded a detailed response, not what he called 'the one-line nonsense issued by the Department today'.
