Ryanair has requested early meetings with the Ministers for Transport and Finance to discuss its bid to take over Aer Lingus.

The no-frills airline, which already owns nearly 30% of Aer Lingus, has launched a full take-over bid just two years after its first bid was rejected.

It's offering €1.40 per share, which is 25% more than the stock was worth when markets closed last Friday.

Ryanair said the move would create a thousand new jobs at Aer Lingus, and Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said union concerns about staff pay and conditions were unfounded:

"The sad thing is in the last two years as an independent company, pay and conditions at Aer Lingus have been affected," Mr O'Leary said.

"You've seen job cuts and more recently pay cuts within Aer Lingus.

"In those same two years in Ryanair, you've seen rapid growth in employment - even during a recession in the airline industry.

"We think Ryanair offers a better way forward for the future - we're the growing airline and Aer Lingus isn't."