Ms Rose Hynes:

That is a very good point. We are endeavouring to do something wider than just the airport. We are trying to grow an international aviation services centre at Shannon, as I said in my opening remarks. There are many reasons for this policy. Ireland has a very strong position in the aviation industry. More than one in five of the managed aircraft in the world is managed or owned out of Ireland. We must build on that situation. Those businesses are here and we can do it. Ireland needs to anchor its aviation community. If Ireland does not do that, someone else will eat our lunch. I refer to a headline yesterday in a Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail , "Ireland Defends Aircraft Leasing Crown as Asia Rises". This is not about Knock or Shannon or Cork; this is about Ireland. It is about what Ireland can do to protect what it has. Places like Singapore are trying to eat our lunch. We need to anchor what we have and we need to build on it. Approximately 40 aviation-related businesses are currently located in Shannon, employing 1,600 people. That is more of an aviation cluster than what Singapore had when it began. Singapore is copying our tax policies. We are either going to let them eat our lunch or else we are going to fight back. In my view we need to fight back. They are writing about us even in Canada so it is important from our perspective in Ireland.