Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What the Minister said there is encouraging and good. The planning process is outside his control. Legal challenges are also outside his control, but for him to say if it gets through that he would hope to be in a position to press "Go" is encouraging. The people understand that there is a significant element of this outside the Minister's control. We cannot just put the JCBs on the ground next week. We have to go through the railway order and other statutory processes. What people want to know is that there is a commitment that when the gate is open we are able to move through it.

With all due respect to all those other projects which are important, and while I speak out of local concern, Deputy O'Rourke will back me up here when I say that I have sat through many committee meetings where we have had a great deal of discussion about Shannon Airport. I have not spoken about Dublin Airport too often. I have let the local Deputies have a great deal of discussion about Shannon Airport over the past year and a half. Dublin Airport is testing its second runway at present. That will come on stream soon. There will be an explosion in the number of passengers coming into Dublin Airport.