Mr. Pádraig Ó Céidigh:

Yes, it is a key issue. The Senator has put his finger on a very important point. The key issue is where the Government, as the key stakeholder and owner of Shannon Airport, sees it going in the long term. Reference was made to the aviation and transport strategy document which is being prepared at the moment and input into that by this committee and others would be very valuable.

If the 2011 report to which Senator Gavan refers is the same as the one as I read, it also suggested that there would be between 2.5 million and 2.7 million passengers in Shannon, which never happened. The figures were very high and I believe that report was way too optimistic. I would have questions in relation to-----