Pádraig Ó Céidigh (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Competition is healthy and we need to have a debate in a public forum on a second airport in Dublin. I understand the Chairman's perspective that there is enough competition as it is. My experience of Dublin Airport as a passenger and from an airline perspective has been positive. I have found the senior management team down the years proactive, supportive and helpful, which is contrary to what other airline CEOs have said on occasion which was unfair. I have an important question from an airline perspective. With 30 million passengers, does Mr. Geoghegan see Dublin Airport becoming slot controlled in the way that Heathrow Airport is? That is important from an airline perspective. If an airline wants to fly to Heathrow Airport, depending on the time of day, it may have to pay millions of euro for a slot.

For example, when Aer Lingus was sold about three or four years ago, the Aer Lingus slots were a big part of the value of the Aer Lingus balance sheet even though those figures were off-balance sheet. Does Mr. Geoghegan see Dublin Airport being slot-controlled in a way broadly similar to Heathrow?