Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The regional airports may be the conduit to deal with the rebalancing of passenger numbers. However, the terms of reference will be key. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that matters will not be rushed. The deadline of 31 December for a position paper is too short, given the time of year. I ask the Minister of State to extend that to 31 January. I also ask her to issue a public notice that people may make submissions. We can see at first hand the enormous difference the regional programme has made for Shannon. Obviously, we want to attract new routes into Shannon. By attracting the routes, we can increase passenger numbers.

In recent years, including before the Covid pandemic, we had an increase in passenger numbers in all airports but an exponential increase in Dublin and that is the problem. We are not saying that we did not increase the number of passengers in Shannon and Cork; they just grew exponentially in Dublin. I can see where the Minister of State is coming from. I ask for that to become a key element of the national aviation policy.

Regarding the review of the national aviation policy around rebalancing passenger numbers, the conduit may be the regional airports programme. I believe it is important to get it right and I want buy-in. The Minister of State should put a notice on the Department website. She should extend the deadline for the positions paper to 31 January. That will allow the committee to feed into that. I presume the terms of reference will then be formed after which the public consultation can take place and we can feed into that again. The Minister of State understands the point I am making.