Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Wilson and Mr. O'Leary sincerely for coming to see us again. I will put on the record my thanks to them for everything they have done, especially in the past couple of years. Ryanair has done an immense amount of work for Irish aviation over the years.

We do not always agree on certain aspects of it but the proof of the pudding is the way Mr. O'Leary has built a company that sustained the Covid pandemic really well. Ryanair retained staff and was able to be back up and running when people right across Europe were depending on an Irish airline. It was good to see that so I thank the witnesses for that. I look forward to the company's continued growth and success.

A lot of people have talked about the national piece but I will stick to the domestic one. Let us look at Dublin for a second. I think what Mr. O'Leary is saying about Dublin Airport is right. He said it way back when the new terminal was being built. I asked Willie Walsh the same question here last week or the week before. The current terminal 2 is not fit for purpose. It was designed as a feat of engineering and architecture but anybody who goes through the airport regularly will know it is not fit for purpose, not just the machinery used for bags but the whole space. It is just not conducive to the movement of people but it looks great from outside. Mr. O'Leary rightly raised concerns we need to address with the management about the tunnel. I am sure there is a cheaper solution. Dublin Airport has reached capacity in its terminals. The area Ryanair occupies needs more space. So do the southern gates, which are also a bit of a mess. Whenever there is mention of increased capacity at Dublin Airport, people in the mid west, and I am sure in Cork although I do not want to speak for them, and in Clare in particular, sigh and say that if Dublin gets more capacity that will be the demise of Shannon. I would like to hear the witnesses' views on that, although I have a fair idea of what they are.

The business community in and around Limerick and Shannon, and Clare generally, talks about the necessity of direct connectivity to the likes of Schipol or Frankfurt. What would the witnesses say to Mary Considine? Maybe they are not in a position to provide advice but if they were to advise, given their very significant experience, on going into a facility like Schipol or Frankfurt, what should the airport be doing and how would it go about that?