Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not so much that the airport needs the rent-roll from the parks around the airport to survive or cover its operations. In fact, the airport operating as an airport with an airfield can break even, which it did last year, notwithstanding that it does not have 3 million passengers. As passenger numbers continue to increase, we are confident that the airport and airfield can be profitable. The adjacent land in what will become Shannon Commercial Enterprises Limited can also be profitable, but it will be under the same umbrella with the same CEO and board. A secondary consideration is EU state rules. Our best legal advice was to keep the subsidiaries separate.