Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I attended the EU transport Council meeting yesterday in Brussels and the issue of the single European skies was raised. It needs the agreement of member states. Ireland is in favour. I know Ryanair was before the committee recently and very much advocated for this. I made a statement on behalf of the Irish Government that we are in favour of this and we are working with the Commission to try to engage with other member states and make our position clear. Ireland and like-minded member states have made our position on the single European skies clear. We urge member states, the Commission and the Parliament to prioritise agreement on this file. Such agreement can make a real difference to airspace users by increasing capacity, reducing delays and costs and, crucially, reducing emissions through more integrated air traffic management. This is one of the key areas in that the level of emissions reductions we can get from the single European skies is critical. It is ambitious but we are working with the Commission in that regard. Certainly, from Ireland's point of view, we are in favour of it.