Ms Mary Considine:

Obviously, aviation policy is that we have two State airport authorities. For our part, we are very focused, as part of the Shannon Group, on driving not only passengers through the airport but growing the economy footprint of this region. That is why we have invested almost €130 million in the region. This has not only addressed historic underinvestment in the airport but it has also brought new property solutions to the market and new investment to the region, which in turn supports services. The committee will have heard others today say airlines need demand. They will not just fly to a place; there has to be a reason to do it, so there needs to be economic activity and tourism in the region. We are investing in driving our economic footprint and in tourism products and all of that in turn will support the airport.

It is a real chicken and egg situation. The air services to the airport are a real selling point in trying to attract new industry into the region. That is the starting point and we need to continue to invest in growing this region. Prior to Covid, we were on a growth trajectory and we expected growth in the airport, growth in the commercial property business and growth in Shannon heritage business, and our aviation custom has grown from over 40 companies in the group in 2014 to over 80 today. I cannot agree with the Senator that this has not worked. We were on a growth trajectory but Covid has just decimated everything. Our colleagues in Dublin and Cork say the same. Traffic into the country is down 90% so we are all on our knees at this stage.