Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)

I thank the witnesses for coming. They mentioned Dublin Airport and the budget being on time.

Before implementing the new extension to runway operations at Dublin Airport, it would have been better to have filled the other airports in this country - such as those in Shannon and Cork - to capacity. Without turning a sod, Cork Airport could cater for a further 3.5 million passengers. Shannon could cater for a further 3 million. In the context of the environmental impact, an extra 10 million people are going to be brought through Dublin Airport. When it comes to people travelling to and from the airport by bus, in rented cars or whatever, we know it is not possible to get into or out of the place because it is so busy. Common sense tells us that we should use the existing infrastructure in the country to its full capacity in the first place. I am talking about what might have to be done to ensure that the other airports are viable and that it is a case of there being equal opportunity across the country.

If an environmental study were done regarding the bus and car trips undertaken by people leaving Dublin, it would show they are travelling down to counties Limerick, Kerry, Clare and Cork. The buses leaving this city go to these places and then come back again. This is happening while we are trying to reduce environmental impacts. On the one hand, we are talking to people about bringing in taxes in respect of environmental impacts and carbon emissions, while, on the other, we are increasing the numbers passing through an airport that is already a bottleneck. We have in place the infrastructure we could have used before any increases relating to the use of Dublin Airport were sought. Using that would have been common sense. It is not that common, but it is common sense.

That concludes our session. I thank our witnesses for attending. If there are any other questions arising, we will redirect them to the witnesses. They might come back to us on them.