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

I completely understand where the Deputy is coming from. Passenger numbers at Shannon Airport increased very marginally last year. We are now projecting a 10% rise in passenger numbers this year, which is a very good outcome. It will mean that Shannon Airport is about one year behind on what was a very ambitious business plan, but to be a year behind on ambitious business plan is not a bad result.

The 2012 business plan did not envisage any income coming in from the International Aviation Services Centre, IASC, which is the centre of excellence for aviation. Shannon has as much security as any State-owned enterprise. All State-owned enterprises must break even and make a profit. Shannon has as much security in that regard as any other State-owned enterprise. In an extreme situation, it is possible for the Government to inject equity into the company but we are not anticipating that ever being necessary. It is not that it would be allowed to close or anything like that. That is not even foreseen.