Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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718. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the total number of passengers who were carried on each of the public service obligation, PSO, air services to counties Kerry and Donegal airports in 2013 or the most recent year for which data are available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16439/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In 2013, a total of 21,404 passengers were carried on the Donegal/Dublin PSO air service, representing over 63% of the total number of passengers travelling through Donegal Airport. In the same year, a total of 32,768 passengers were carried on the Kerry/Dublin PSO air service representing just over 10.5% of the total number of passengers travelling through Kerry Airport.

The current Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts for the two routes end in November this year. The policy on regional airports post 2014 is currently being developed in my Department. This policy will reflect the recommendations arising out of the recently published IWA Knock Study Group, which are being incorporated into the draft National Aviation Policy and must also comply with the revised EU Guidelines on State-Aid, which were adopted by the Commission on 20 February 2014.

It is intended that a PSO tender competition for the Donegal/Dublin and Kerry/Dublin routes will be organised for 2015. As the Deputy appreciates, my Department cannot write a blank cheque and the final decision on whether or not to maintain PSO supports will only be taken when the outcome of the tender process is known.

There is only a limited budget of some €12m per annum available for the Regional Airports Programme post-2014, with an average cost per annum for the two PSO routes from Kerry and Donegal of over €7.5m, based on existing figures. Best use of that limited budget must be made in the context of maintaining and developing the four regional airports – Donegal, IWA Knock, Kerry and Waterford.