Mr. Michael O'Leary:

The simple ingredient is that Shannon would have a materially lower cost or a better incentive scheme than Dublin, although there is a limit to that. We have tried some routes out of Shannon that have not worked and we continue to try new routes that are working very well. We have also very successfully put in a series of summer charter flights to Ibiza and Palma which have been very well supported. However, we cannot get away from the reality that in the winter, and I say this with the greatest respect, Shannon is not a great destination. Limerick is a very fine city but it has not got as many visitor attractions as Dublin. Cork has slightly more. Cork and Shannon are growing very well in a very difficult environment, but Dublin has hotel accommodation, a huge range of flights and services, and we have a population of 2.5 million living within an hour's drive of Dublin. Heathrow, for example, has 65 million or 70 million passengers whereas Stansted only has 30 million passengers, so why do more people not choose Stansted? It is because Heathrow is Heathrow, and it has connections and everything else.

I think the Chairman underestimates. It has been a remarkable success. Shannon ten years ago had fewer than 1 million passengers. The fact Shannon has grown to close to 2 million passengers and could get to 2 million passengers is a remarkable success, given it has lost all of the transatlantic stopovers. Shannon is very much standing on its own two feet. Cork is standing on its own two feet. Could we do more? Yes, but we are already doing more and more can be done.