Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have two final quick questions and then I will wrap up. I met a lot of aviation leasing companies last week. Collectively they estimate that their sector will purchase 17,000 new aircraft within the next decade. Ireland has dominance in this area, as Mr. Walsh will be aware, and 50% of this trade will be through Ireland, with 8,500 aircraft going on Irish books. This is absolutely colossal. Does Mr. Walsh believe there is scope within our new national aviation policy in this regard? We have always had that really proud heading of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, MRO, with the likes of Lufthansa Technik, and we have been really good to them in attracting them and keeping them in Ireland. In the context of that number of aircraft going on Irish books, does Mr. Walsh believe that perhaps our new national aviation policy should dream a bit bigger and look at some degree - maybe not full on - of aviation manufacturing and aeroplane manufacturing in Ireland? A few years ago, Turkish Airlines, with a far lesser order was able to demand certain components be manufactured in certain facilities there. Does Mr. Walsh believe there is scope for Ireland to leverage something here, by suggesting that if a company is manufacturing some of these 8,500 aeroplanes, then that should happen here?

There will be a move to sustainable aviation fuels in 2025, comprising 2% of all fuels supplied at airports. Will we see a change in pricing? A lot of airlines and a lot of the IATA members have advance purchasing deals. When those have run out, they will be going into the rigours of the market next year. Will we see a fluctuation in air fare prices?