Mr. Pádraig Ó Ríordáin:

Perhaps we could have a separate conversation on that because I would need to be briefed properly in respect of what precisely is our position on each option. However, I would be happy to do that at some stage if the Deputy wishes.

On the plan for Dublin as a transatlantic hub, we would be happy to prepare and circulate a paper on that in order that everybody is aware of what is the plan. It is part of our strategic plan at present. I probably have responded to the question regarding the Dublin drainage scheme already. I am not entirely sure why we have not been an active participant in that discussion. While distance from the airport may be one issue, again I will check separately on that matter.

In respect of daa interaction with the local community, people can interrelate with us in many ways, many of which now are on social media. As we have a good social media programme, we respond to issues quickly and over the past two years, we have become very outward-looking again. Our relationships with all stakeholders, including the State itself, obviously, the airlines, our employees and the community have been strong. Again, it is a particular strength of Kevin Toland that he does this. He does a lot of workshops for people and he goes out and speaks to people in town hall-type settings quite often. Again, if there are individual issues from a community perspective, we absolutely would engage fully in that regard.

As for deferred pensioners - this is an important point - when deferred pensioners are talking about cuts of 50% to 60%, they are talking about cuts of 50% to 60% from the double pension. In the example I gave earlier of a €30,000 pension, they are talking about cuts of 50% to 60% from the €42,000, not from the €30,000. The additional €12,000, the State pension, is something to which they never have contributed. What they are saying is that because of the anomaly in the scheme, they believe they have an entitlement to the €42,000 and therefore, are judging their numbers from there. If one looks at what they have contributed to as pensioners in the scheme, that is, the €30,000, they will be getting a maximum of a 10% cut from that €30,000, which is exactly the same as what the existing pensioners are getting under the restructuring the trustees have put in place. Consequently, they are not being treated very differently from other parties. The other point to remember in respect of the deferred pensioners is that nearly all of them left Dublin Airport Authority on the basis of a voluntary severance scheme or an early retirement plan, both of which involved quite sizeable packages. For example, in recent years, daa has spent €50 million on those packages it has paid either to pensioners or to deferred members of the scheme. When one stands back from this and looks at it objectively, it is not as unfair as one thinks. The expert panel has listened to absolutely everybody on this and has stated the solution to which we now are signing up is the fairest solution. The panel would not have done this were the figures as skewed as a 50% to 60% reduction in pension.