RYANAIR DECISION KEY TO AER LINGUS SELL-OFF - Ryanair's intentions for its stake in Aer Lingus will have to be declared before a Cabinet decision on the sale of the airline can be made. Senior Government sources last night confirmed that the Cabinet would be given a chance to decide on the State's 25.1% stake in the former national carrier only when rival airline Ryanair had made its intentions known, writes the Irish Independent. Six months after the British group made its first bid a decision to sell the State's holding in the airline has still not been reached. Tánaiste Joan Burton said Ryanair held a "significant stake" of nearly 30% in Aer Lingus and how Michael O'Leary's airline approached the matter would be key to any decision the Government may take. Despite Labour concerns around the deal, the Government clearly appears to be in support of selling the Government's stake.
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INTEREST RATE BILL WOULD LET CENTRAL BANK CAP RATES - Independent Senator Feargal Quinn will introduce draft laws this week to give the Central Bank powers to cap the interest charge on variable rate mortgages. The manoeuvre comes as Minister for Finance Michael Noonan urges lenders to pass record low European interest rates on to some 300,000 customers who have variable rate mortgages, writes the Irish Times. Mr Noonan will raise the variable rate issue directly with the chiefs of the main banks at a series of meetings tomorrow and on Thursday. A private member's Bill from Mr Quinn marks an effort to pressurise both the Government and the banks to take action. "Gentle persuasion has failed as a policy tool. It is time for us to arm the Central Bank with the powers necessary to force banks to reduce their variable interest rates to a reasonable level," Mr Quinn said. He has called on the Government to support the Bill in the Seanad. The Bill also follows Government warnings of a new public levy being imposed on banks which do no cut mortgage rates. As such it could be used by the Government as another lever to prise action from reluctant banks.
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COURT URGES ABBOTT'S PLANT TO UP PAY TO WORKERS - The Labour Court has recommended that Siptu members working at Abbott’s nutrition plant at Cootehill receive a pay increase over and above what the firm has been offering. Established at 1975, the plant at Cootehill on the Cavan-Monaghan border is part of Abbott’s nutrition division making specialised infant formulae. Approximately 1,000 dairy farms in Ireland and Northern Ireland supply milk to the Cootehill facility which processes 500,000 litres per day, says the Irish Examiner. The US-based Abbott employs 3,000 staff across 11 sites in Ireland. Siptu argued that the plant and the company are highly profitable and the increased responsibilities that have come about through the restructuring, together with a greater workload and improved efficiencies, should be acknowledged. In response, Abbott told the Labour Court that the company operated in a deeply competitive market and that the terms and conditions at the Cootehill plant were extremely favourable. In its recommendation, the Labour Court stated that “the union submitted claims for substantial increases in pay due to increased responsibility and workloads associated with the level of changes taking place in the organisational structure of the company”. The claims were made on behalf of general operatives, process operatives, panel operatives, laboratory technicians and storemen.
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THOMAS COOK DEFENDS HOTEL DEATHS PAYOUT - Thomas Cook has defended a payout it received from a Corfu hotel where two children died in 2006, underscoring the reputational risk for companies trying to recover costs following a crisis. The parents of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, who died aged six and seven from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty boiler at the hotel, said they received about one-tenth of the £3.5m Thomas Cook had reportedly received from Louis Hotels, the owner of the holiday resort where the deaths occurred. The British tour operator confirmed it had received compensation from the hotel because of “costs related to the incident” but did not give details of the sum, writes the Financial Times. Thomas Cook has attracted criticism for its handling of the long-running case, with several of its executives exercising their right to silence at an inquest in the UK and the company failing to apologise to the family during the hearing. Last week the inquest jury found that the children had been “unlawfully killed” and that Thomas Cook had “breached its duty of care”, partly based on inadequate checks of the health and safety measures in the complex where it was booking guests to stay. Users on Twitter reacted angrily to news of the compensation award, with some vowing to boycott Thomas Cook and one pointing out that the company was still offering package holidays to the facility where the children died.
