Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Most of my questions have already been asked. Mr. Walsh is very welcome. It is good to get an airing of his views. It is the first time we will have heard them publicly. I live in Shannon town and there are fears. In the Aer Lingus debacle of 2007, we lost 368,000 customers in the region and there was devastation. I do not see an issue with the Shannon Heathrow slots, because the three we have carry a 76% to 78% load. There is a need among the business community for an earlier morning slot out of Shannon to Heathrow, Dublin or another major hub. Given that Mr. Walsh has guaranteed the Heathrow slots, my fear is about the transatlantic business, and Mr. Walsh might able to echo it. Many of our business people on the west coast travel across the Atlantic. I fear that instead of New York-Shannon-Boston-Shannon we will have New York-Heathrow with a back feed to Shannon, or New York-Dublin and people travelling to the west by bus. Would Mr. Walsh guarantee the transatlantic business that exists during the summer? It is critical. While the Shannon-Heathrow flights are busy, I am very concerned about the transatlantic business.