Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1994 > Committee on Commercial State-Sponsored Bodies (7th Committee) > Interim Report - Aer Lingus

Introduction and Background

1.The Joint Committee is at present conducting an examination of Aer Lingus, a subsidiary of which is the aircraft maintenance company, TEAM Aer Lingus.

2.During its examination of Aer Lingus, the Joint Committee became especially concerned in June 1994 with the state of TEAM Aer Lingus, which had arisen due to a number of pressing developments:

3.Accordingly, at the Joint Committee’s meeting of 21st June 1994, it was decided to accede to a request from the Aer Lingus Craft Group of Unions to meet the Joint Committee. A meeting with the Aer Lingus Craft Group of Unions and with the management of both Aer Lingus and TEAM Aer Lingus was therefore arranged for Tuesday 28th June 1994.

Interim Report

4.In view of the continuing serious situation in TEAM Aer Lingus and arising out of the substance of the meetings that transpired, the Joint Committee decided, in connection with its examination of Aer Lingus, to issue an interim report which draw particular attention to its deliberations on TEAM Aer Lingus in June 1994. In this way, the Joint Committee hopes to continue to highlight the critical situation at TEAM Aer Lingus and, especially, to put in the public domain as quickly as possible the material presented by both the Aer Lingus Craft Group of Unions and the management of Aer Lingus and TEAM Aer Lingus. The Joint Committee hopes to include an analysis of this material in its final report on Aer Lingus, which will be issued in due course.

Meetings

5.The Joint Committee met with the Aer Lingus Craft Group of Unions on Tuesday 28th June 1994. It met with management of Aer Lingus and TEAM Aer Lingus both on that day and Wednesday 29th June. The two meetings totalled over five hours.

Verbatim Report

6.The verbatim report of both meetings will be published under separate cover as soon as possible.

Witnesses Examined

7.The Joint Committee took oral evidence from the following representatives of the Aer Lingus Craft Group of unions:-

8.The Joint Committee took oral evidence from the following representatives from the management of Aer Lingus and TEAM Aer Lingus:

Submissions

9.The Joint Committee received the following three submissions from the Aer Lingus Craft Group of Unions:

These submissions are contained in Appendices I to III of this report.

10.The submission to the Joint Committee from the management of Aer Lingus and TEAM Aer Lingus is contained in Appendix IV.

11.The Joint Committee received from the Department of Enterprise and Employment a copy of a document produced by the Labour Relations Commission as a result of its intervention in the dispute. Since it was provided for the confidential information of the Joint Committee, it is not published in this report. Certain pages contain sensitive trading, financial and commercial information.

Conclusion

12.The Joint Committee welcomes the fact that its ongoing examination of Aer Lingus afforded an opportunity for a specific examination of the position of TEAM Aer Lingus during a particularly difficult time for that company. In this case, the Joint Committee’s usual way of gathering information - the taking of evidence in public - provided, in effect, a “forum” for the members of the Joint Committee to discuss the complex issues involved. The Joint Committee believes that its public hearings inspired some further thinking on the part of management and employees in the relatively urgent time scale of the company’s problems.

13.The Joint Committee welcomes the moves that have been made by all parties to reach agreement since it held its meetings and hopes that a solution can be found to ensure both the long term survival of and a viable future for TEAM Aer Lingus.

July 1994