Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I add my voice to the congratulations to Ms Hynes and wish her well in the future. Obviously, her job is very challenging. She spoke about an all-time high of 3.5 million passengers to 1.4 million this year, so there is a task to be done. Connectivity is extremely important for an island nation.

I have a few questions but I would like to comment briefly on the situation which has been emerging from Knock and Kerry airports. It is extremely important that Knock, Shannon and Kerry airports work together for the benefit of the west of Ireland. We have seen a huge surge in traffic to the east coast of Ireland. The area of balanced regional development is extremely important. I listened to the debate on an Adjournment matter in the Seanad last night. I hope the Member who made that complaint to the European Commission might consider his position because it is ill-judged and it would be in the best interest of the whole of the west of Ireland if we all worked together.

Nobody spoke about the customs and border protection pre-clearance facility put into Shannon Airport a few years ago at a cost of €20 million. It is now in Dublin Airport as well but it is totally under-utilised. It was one of the first such facilities in the world outside of an island off the coast of Venezuela. This facility was put in place in the interest of corporate traffic and scheduled traffic. It is currently being used by British Airways and a number of others. Will Ms Hynes comment on the role of this in regard to corporate jets because it is an important area in the Middle East? Many corporate jets cross the Atlantic on a daily and weekly basis. How much of that traffic can Shannon Airport capture because I know it has been tried in the past and, unfortunately, we do not have the volume we should have in that area?

Ms Hynes spoke about scheduled flights and transit traffic. During the year of the 3.5 million passengers, we were over-reliant on Ryanair and some of the previous speakers referred to that. Ms Hynes said we have learned from the past. I hope we have done so because we saw Shannon Airport go down as a result of Ryanair dropping services from the airport.

Will Ms Hynes comment on the importance of the transatlantic business for Shannon Airport and how she intends to increase it?

I was pleased to hear that the airport is in negotiations with a German airline. A hub destination for Shannon is especially important for business people and I know that the airport had a connection to the hub in Paris previously. How important is this for Shannon, London Heathrow Airport aside? The London Heathrow connection is important, but it is important to have an alternative hub in mainland Europe as well which would fulfil the role Ms Hynes has adverted to with regard to tourism, business and connectivity to other areas. I realise other speakers wish to raise the matter and that it is important. Therefore, I have no wish to go over questions that were asked before on the US Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance facility and transatlantic traffic. That is decidedly important for Shannon and always has been. How does Ms Hynes intend to increase business in this area, especially in the year of The Gathering? I realise she has referred to the new services coming in, but what are the other areas where we can increase traffic from the mainland?