Mr. John Mulhern:

I thank Deputy Griffin for his questions. He knows Kerry Airport better than most. We think of ourselves as being like the loss leader in a supermarket. It costs us millions each year to keep the airport running but its contribution to the economy in Kerry is multiples of what we pay. We are very proud of that. People visit Kerry all year around, particularly in the summer, and the airport contributes thousands of inward tourists to all sorts of businesses, hotels, restaurants and everything else in the Kerry region. The common theme from visitors is always that they wish they could fly direct to Kerry. We will have 38 flights each week from Frankfurt in Germany, London, Manchester and so forth this summer but the ask is always if we can have a connection through London Heathrow or Schiphol. The Deputy is right to refer to an opportunity in the future to support that.

We listen with envy to our friends in some of the larger airports for two reasons. First, they have a connection to a major international hub and, second, they talk about passengers in millions. The dream of having 1 million passengers, never mind 3 million, is a long way away for us, even though one quarter of all visitors to Ireland come to Kerry. They come for all the reasons the Deputy outlined. One of the most exciting ones is the building of the greenway. Kerry has always been an attractive place for people who like to climb, cycle, walk and run. I remember the Deputy speaking to me about the greenway connectivity about five years ago. He said it was a dream of his to connect the airport to all of the greenways so that he could cycle the whole of the county and return to Kerry Airport. That is our dream too. On that point, the Deputy has been a great friend to Kerry Airport over the years. When I met him four years ago, he was the first politician I had met and he is now the politician I meet most often and the one who keeps in touch. We know we will have a little more time in his company but, on my behalf and that of the airport, I will say his contribution to tourism and transport in Ireland, and in particular to our county, is enormous and we will miss that very much. Deputy Griffin is the absolute example of what a politician can do for people, for businesses and for the community. We will miss him.