The Minister for Transport has warned that any deal to end the pensions dispute at Aer Lingus and the DAA could be blocked by shareholders.

Leo Varadkar says both sides in the dispute need to prepare for the prospect that shareholders could obstruct a solution.

He says any deal to end the current standoff will probably see both companies putting more money into the fund, which has a deficit of over €700 million.

But Minister Varadkar says the other shareholders in Aer Lingus could stand in the way of that deal:

Minister Varadkar says the State only controls 25% of Aer Lingus, and other shareholders could still veto the deal. "It needs to be acceptable, not just to the members of the scheme, not just to the pensioners and the workers at the airports who are covered by the scheme, it also needs to be acceptable to the shareholders of the companies involved - not just the government, which is the shareholder in DAA and the minority shareholder in Aer Lingus, it will also need to be acceptable to the shareholders of Aer Lingus."