John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Hynes and thank her for her presentation. She is obviously very eminently qualified for the task ahead.

Ms Hynes pointed out the challenges and opportunities for the airport. She referred to the 14% decline in passenger numbers, the 6% decline in terminal traffic and 50% decline in transit traffic. Ms Hynes indicated that the challenge for the new authority is to increase passenger numbers to 2.5 million and she suggested that what Shannon will do to achieve this will not be to the detriment of any other airport. Shannon's immediate competitors are Cork Airport, Kerry Airport and Ireland West Airport Knock, which is located in the part of the country in which I live. The catchment area relating to Cork and Kerry airports comprises a population of 1.2 million or 1.3 million and the number of people who live in the catchment area of Ireland West Airport Knock is 800,000. In other words, these three airports are located in quite a small area. How will it be possible for Shannon to increase passenger numbers to 2.5 million without affecting those other airports in a detrimental way? I am not stating that there is anything wrong in this regard but I fail to see how what is envisaged can be achieved without there being an impact on the other three airports to which I refer. How would Ms Hynes respond to the accusation that the debt write-off of €100 million places Shannon in a very favourable position and will lead to those other airports operating on a very uneven playing field?

What is the position with regard to reducing costs? I understand that for each passenger who passes through Shannon, there is a cost of €6. The equivalent cost at Ireland West Airport Knock is 87 cent. Does Ms Hynes accept these figures?

Where are the opportunities arising for cost reductions? What is the reason for the decline of 14%?