The former Labour leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, has warned against the privatisation of Aer Lingus, arguing that the airline could become the "plaything" of the financial markets if it were sold by the State.
Mr Quinn said at a meeting of the Labour parliamentary party that the primary concern of an international investor in the airline would be in making a "quick buck" from Aer Lingus.
He suggested that such investors could move the airline's operational base to Britain or elsewhere in Europe as they would have "no sentimental attachment to Dublin or Ireland".
Instead of privatisation, Mr Quinn urged the creation of a State holding company to take ownership of commercial semi-States such as Aer Lingus.
In a proposal first mooted in Labour's 2002 general election manifesto, the holding company would retain 51 per cent of the semi-State, while the individual companies would be free to release up to 49 per cent of their shares to third-party investment.
Mr Quinn said a management buyout of Aer Lingus would, by its nature, be heavily indebted. "It would not be the management, but an international venture capital concern, that would own the company.
"The new owners' concern would be in making a quick buck - or a quick couple of hundred million bucks. It doesn't take a corporate finance specialist to guess that the first thing to go would be slots at Heathrow - one of Aer Lingus's most valuable assets."
Mr Quinn said such developments would have grave implications for the Irish economy. "As an island nation, and a trading nation, access to and from these shores is a key strategic issue."
Ryanair would not provide such access, Mr Quinn claimed. "Ryanair will not provide the key cargo services for high-tech industry," he said.
