Ms Mary Considine:

Regarding Deputy Ó Murchú's latter point, what I mentioned earlier on is that there is a unique opportunity not just for Shannon, but for Ireland, with the abundance of floating offshore wind on the Atlantic. As an estuary task force, we are looking at that, and how that could be enabled on the Shannon Estuary. If you bring that offshore wind onshore, then you are producing hydrogen and ammonia, but hydrogen in particular can be used for sustainable aviation fuels. As a country, we need to deal with the planning and the consenting as the first step. Thereafter, we could become a net exporter, and that is where there is this huge excitement and opportunity for growth.

On the point around the distribution of economic growth, aviation policy has a key role to play there. That is where we would look to this committee and the Government in the formulation of that policy, because air routes and aviation support economic activity in the regions. The Project Ireland 2040 plan is for a balanced, developed economy, as I mentioned earlier, and that is why connectivity into the regions is crucial.

In response to Deputy O'Rourke's point in relation to the offering, airlines are purely commercial and want a really strong demand case, so the more we partner with local stakeholders, including chambers of commerce, industry leaders, stakeholders across the region and, if it is a tourism route, Tourism Ireland which has been really supportive of routes in those earlier years, the better.

When we talk about connectivity into central or key hubs, there might be something to look at there. Tourism Ireland supports tourism routes. There is no mechanism to date to support those vital industrial links. If you look at our catchment area and the significant cluster of companies in the region, particularly foreign direct investment, they need to get their people and goods in and out to market. First and foremost, it is about keeping what we have, and then in enabling them to grow. That connectivity will be very important.

Looking to state aid rules, public service obligations, PSOs, are provided for. We tend to look at them domestically. There is a mechanism in Europe, and there are examples where there are PSOs between member states. It is really for that purpose, that is, for key economic routes to support economic development. There are opportunities there to look at things.