Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport
Chairperson Designate of the DAA: Discussion
Mr. Basil Geoghegan:
That is exactly right. Then there are things which are outside our immediate purview but which are really important, such as MetroLink. I know the committee discussed with the chairman of Shannon Airport the fact that none of our airports is connected by rail. It is not acceptable as a country that that is the case. Rail connection would be a big step forward and, clearly, we would like to see it at Dublin, but anything happening at other airports would be a good thing as well. We at the DAA are committed to running an organisation which can effectively carry its own water with a fair regulatory regime. We know we can compete well because we go and compete against other airports in providing services outside Ireland. We run terminal 5 in Riyadh. We are competing to run another terminal in that part of the world. We are up against the biggest people in the world in doing that. It is great when we get Government support, and I know Ministers and others have helped us in that regard. We know we can compete globally; we just want to deliver that really good service back here in Dublin and Cork too. Still, we are very happy that is what is within the purview of our mandate.
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