Leo Varadkar, the Irish minister for transport, has dismissed reports that JetBlue could buy a stake in Aer Lingus. Varadkar said he was not aware of any plan to sell the government's 25% stake in Aer Lingus to the U.S. carrier. He also said he did not think JetBlue would have much free cash to buy a stake in Aer Lingus. Varadkar said the Government had not named a price for its stake and the issue was to get an appropriate buyer at the best possible price. But he said the hole in the pension fund would have to be sorted out first. Varadkar also said the government expected a dividend from Aer Lingus this year. A report in Monday's Irish Times said Aer Lingus's senior management team had held talks with JetBlue Airways. The paper quoted "informed sources" as saying that JetBlue was Aer Lingus management's preferred trade investor. Aer Lingus and the U.S. airline are already connected by a sales agreement launched in April 2008.