Mr. Basil Geoghegan:

I thank the Senator for his good wishes.

In terms of the runway situation, there is a long history associated with the planning permission and how that has developed. In the meantime, the EU has promulgated a regulation for how noise should be addressed at airports in Europe, under what it calls a balanced approach. That allows all interested parties to put their views forward and allows the regulator to make an independent decision based on EU standards. From our perspective it is very important in terms of the decisions about planning permission that were made a long time ago that we evaluate them in light of how airports operate today. This is particularly important in light of advancements made in aircraft technology, routing technology and noise abatement procedures. It is not a question that we want to change the conditions just because we do not like them. We want to have the new noise regulator in place. We want to put forward our case and we want everybody else to put forward their cases. We want the regulator to decide how the airport should operate. We would like all of that to be well in place before the new runway is due to open. As Members will know, in the context of airports, airlines must have notice as to where they will fly to and base aircrafts because that has a knock-on effect on time. Also, lots of people around the airport want to know the answer so that they can decide what they want to do in the context of the development of the new runway.

From our perspective, it would be particularly helpful if we could move forward in parallel with both the legislation and to give Fingal County Council, which has been established as the regulator, the funding and basis upon which it can set itself up. That would ensure it is immediately up and running and prevent having to come at this situation following a delay.

In terms of my past roles, the educational experience that I have received is far more of a help than a hindrance. I have advised a number of airlines that were sometimes in complete opposition to one another yet I have managed to work on one side and then on another side at a later point. The focus on giving good advice is really what has enabled that and I hope that is the type of advice that I will be able to drive through the board of the DAA.