Mr. Ray Gray:

The north runway is a very long-term project that has been planned since the year I was born or thereabouts. It has been actively planned to put in place since the year I joined the airport or longer, which is over 20 years ago now. It is there to benefit Ireland and the regions for the long term into the future. It is unfortunate but not unusual that significant step changes in airport infrastructure happen during a downturn. By its nature, a downturn occurs every seven to ten years and, therefore, in the life of a project it is not unusual. This project is the right thing for Ireland and significant progress has been made in the construction of the runway. If I was sitting here ten years ago, we would have been talking about the construction of terminal 2 and whether that was wise. Undoubtedly, we would not have been able to grow and support our economy if we had not those airport facilities in place through terminal 2. We would not have been able to expand services, attract the Middle Eastern carriers and accommodate the additional travel that Aer Lingus and many of our airline customers have. These are long-term projects and it is important that we take difficult and measured short-term decisions and stay the course for important strategic decisions. This is not for Dublin Airport, but for Ireland.