Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will come in before I let in Deputy Boland. I say the following for the benefit of people who may be watching online or may watch the recording of today's hearing. We have talked an awful lot about the concentration at Dublin Airport, but I still want to acknowledge the critical role Dublin Airport plays in economic activity. Every time I travel through Dublin Airport, it is a very positive experience, particularly over recent years, and I spent ten years going over to Brussels and back. There is, however, an overwhelming theme here today from the vast majority of members, namely, a concern about an 84% concentration through one single airport. If I understand correctly, and based on what the witnesses have said in the context of allocating slots at Dublin Airport, the IAA does not have a role as regards Shannon Airport, Cork Airport or the other three regional airports. I refer to the current framework or whatever the hierarchy of policy or legislation is and the extent of the growth, with 15 million additional seats over the past ten years and 12 million of those through Dublin Airport. How sustainable is that going forward from a safety point of view? Does the IAA support the embedding of spatial planning and regional development into the new national aviation policy?