Mr. Ronan Gallagher:

This Bill follows on from a commitment in the national aviation policy to carry out a review and to implement the findings of same. It is true that this is not a fundamental shift or change but is a rebalancing or refocusing. Fundamentally, we are dealing with an airport that has a market-dominant position. While it would not be fair to characterise it as a monopoly, it is as close as one could get to that. The review spoke to the fact that we have an effective regulatory regime but that it dates from 2001. Provisions such as the ministerial directions are of their time and speak to a period when policy makers were not fully convinced about what independent regulation looked like. If one looks at legislation from the 1990s, one will see the Government or Departments setting prices for various things, including electricity. We have had to step away from that, in line with European regulations and general regulatory trends. What we are doing is updating the regime, while also acknowledging that it was pretty well conceived at the outset. In the context of the principles of independent regulation, the idea that the Minister would have this power of direction does not sit well. Is this critical legislation for which the Oireachtas should set aside time now? No, it is not. If it does not progress, will the country be worse off? No, it will not. This is legislation that is nice to have but not urgent. We are certainly not pushing it forward as something that has to happen immediately. That said, we think it represents an improvement on what we have now. We can test that as we go through.

In terms of the impact or any ulterior motives, the Bill strengthens the CAR in terms of how it engages with the DAA. The Department would view that as a good thing. Obviously, the DAA is an important national asset but it is well able to look after itself in all its dealings. The CAR will have to have regard to national development policy, economic policy and aviation policy. In that respect, it will have to ensure that we have an airport that is functioning properly and is financially stable. When one reads through the legislation, one sees requirements on the regulator to make sure that the airport is financially stable which looks a bit strange, given that there is a board and a senior management team who are well resourced and whose job it is to run the airport. To have a statutory obligation on the independent regulator to be concerned about that sits a little oddly.