Mr. John Whelan:

We fully accept that. There is a need for direct flights to the west coast of America. We have pushed the issue on a number of occasions and the DAA is actively working on encouraging a number of airlines to go that way. The initial assessment given by Aer Lingus was that it cannot make the numbers work commercially. The DAA has brought some parties to the table and we have indicated that they could make it work in collaboration with another airline. For example, Turkish Airlines would be anxious to go to the west coast, but in terms of landing rights and so on, it would probably need a collaborative agreement with Aer Lingus. It could come through from Istanbul to Dublin and then on to the west coast of the US. The numbers could work in that way provided sufficient numbers came through from Istanbul. There are potential solutions, but we need to be creative and come up with one quickly. Otherwise, we will turn off some of the tap from the west coast. When we get foreign direct investment and want to ensure it goes deeper and employs more people, we must make it easier for the key shakers and movers to get back and forward between their subsidiaries. Therefore, in order to underpin even our existing investment from the west coast, it is key the issue of this access lane is addressed rapidly.