Mr. Liam Scollan:

One can see the scale and size of Knock Airport and the contribution it makes to the region. This is an airport that is offering a different service and it is a lean and commercially successful operation. In the economic times we are in, that is a hell of a lot to offer.

In the past 18 months we have engaged with the Government to inform it of this new model of airport management. We have approached it with eight proposals. In 2010 we commissioned a study from Shannon Development which showed the airport could create an additional 500 jobs in the region. We have also proposed that we can double our contribution to tourism and the region overall. Recently, the Government announced an enormous package of incentives for Shannon Airport. One of the unfortunate effects is that it might appear that Knock Airport is against Shannon Airport and the mid-west region. This is not the case. We have always been fully supportive of the development of Shannon Airport and regional development. When I was chief executive officer of the Western Development Commission, I proposed to Shannon Development that we have an all-west strategic approach to development. When I was managing director of Knock Airport, I sat on the board of the Shannon task force to bring more tourists into the region. As recently as 2010, the airport met Dr. Vincent Cunnane of Shannon Development to work together. From this, the Government decided to have a scoping study undertaken by Shannon Development. The reason I am emphasising this is there is a history of co-operation between the airport and the region and Shannon Airport and the Shannon region.

We strongly disagree with the Government's approach to this issue of Shannon. From the start, we stated that the Government, in proposing what it did for Shannon, should first have obeyed the recommendations in the Booz & Company report. Let me explain that, before the Shannon package, the Government commissioned Booz & Company to look at the prospects for Cork and Shannon and the State airports and the Government ignored the advice. The Booz & Company report stated that the Government should not proceed with a support package for Shannon without clear consideration of the competitive implications for other airports. That is an extremely important statement. It is stated clearly in the Booz & Company report that no such package should be undertaken without understanding the competitive impact on Knock and the other airports. What has the Government done? It has gone ahead with the package, and that is extremely unfortunate. It is unfair. It is wasteful of public resources because it does not look at competitive airports, such as Knock, to come up with solutions. It is also a parochial approach. What we would have preferred is an approach that looked at all airports in Ireland, including Knock, and not just one. That is very divisive.

I spoke of the co-operative approach. Unfortunately, we must look at where this comes from. There have been unfortunate statements from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar. Most recently, in The Irish Timeson 31 March, he stated that if there is not a change in Government policy, Knock will catch up on Shannon. It is not helpful to national aviation, not to mention aviation and development in the west. The article states that the Minister warned that if nothing was done for Shannon the airport stood in danger of being passed out by Knock airport in passenger numbers, despite a current gap of over 900,000 passengers. He said:

I think if the trends continue as they are it will happen because Shannon's numbers are already down 20 per cent this year and Knock is still growing. It is only a matter of time without a change in policy.

The only difference between then and now is that, whereas he mentioned a gap of 900,000 passengers in March, the gap is now lower. That is the good news. The gap is only 600,000. We are catching up but this not a Shannon versus Knock issue.

These are our concerns. We want the Government to consider the competitive implications of its package for Shannon. We want the Government to have a duty of care to assess and select for survival those airports with a proven track record in the market in terms of delivering capacity and efficiency. The grant aid supports the Government has given to Shannon effectively favour one airport over another and that does not make sense in Ireland and in the competitive context of Europe.

In another statement to the chamber of commerce in Clare, reported in the Clare Champion, the Minister said:

Shannon has less passengers now than it had back in 1997.......In that same period, Knock has increased its passenger numbers by 350%. Even though both airports operate in the same economy in the same country, the trend in Shannon is down and the trend in Knock is up.

This is not the language we wanted in the west. We did not want a divisive language that pitted one airport against another, but a co-operative language because it is out of co-operation that Knock airport grew. Mr. Gilmore referred to the trust, which was a co-operation between the people of the west and the then Minister.

The Government's actions in aviation fly in the face of anything to do with market competition. It is unfair, anti-competitive and potentially illegal. It rewards airports which, even with 1.6 million to 2.2 million passengers, are losing €8 million to €10 million annually and punishes an airport like Knock that is almost breaking even on half those passenger numbers. It is well recognised that airports in the European market with over 1.5 million or perhaps 2 million passengers should really be making a profit or breaking even, and airports with less than 1.5 million passengers simply cannot make a profit. The Government is following a DAA-centred approach here. We would urge the Government to stop doing that and to pursue an approach involving the DAA plus Knock plus all airports and regions. To back up that, there were statements from the chairman of the DAA in Shannon in 2011 in which there was this constant reference to the gap between Knock and Shannon and that Knock was taking between 250,000 and 500,000 passengers from Shannon. That is probably true, but it should not dictate how Government policy operates.

We believe there is a parochial approach. I already referred to that. There is a panic reaction to the massive losses being made by the State airports but if this action continues, it will only drive the decline of Knock airport, which would not be good for Irish aviation or for the region.

For 18 months, we have met the Government and presented it with plans to create thousands of jobs in tourism and other sectors. All of these plans were rejected on the basis that Ireland West Airport Knock is a private company. That is not true; we are a community trust. Our vision for the future is one of 1 million passengers per annum and the creation of 500 jobs without a grant or subvention mentality. We asked Government for a long-term commercial investment approach with the airport to help us build a modest infrastructure and secure our long-term future.

We are simply asking for fair treatment. That is all. We have a large catchment area of 800,000 people. We deserve to be recognised as a strategic airport. The Department has refused to accept and use the word "strategic". Instead, it prefers to call us "important". We are not important; we are strategic because "strategic" means investment, not only in the airport but in the infrastructure around the region, from the N26 from Ballina to the N5 and to the N17.

What we are asking for is engagement, for example, from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on infrastructure and enterprise investment to create the jobs that the trust promised and worked with Government on in 1991. We are asking for route development and international marketing support because we have shown, as Mr. Gilmore has shown, that we have the ability to attract the largest airlines in Europe, such as Lufthansa and Ryanair, which have been the backbone of our development and which recognised the potential of Knock airport dating back to its foundations. We want Government to develop a strategic policy position with Knock airport in the same way as it has already done with Shannon. We ask Government to suspend the inequitable focus of one airport to the exclusion of another or else to engage in a parallel process with Knock airport.

Ireland West Airport Knock is built and has given hope to thousands of people in the region because it grew out of people co-operating and working together. This country is facing challenging times. Every citizen is facing challenging times in this country. Ireland West Airport Knock is an example of where such co-operation grew into an international successful business. We want the Government to co-operate with us more strategically and give, not only Knock but the people of the region and of this country, a signal that it will invest in that type of co-operation and hope. I thank the committee.