Mr. Michael O'Leary:

We are already serving those routes that are viable. We are growing in Cork and Shannon, but as the Deputy rightly said, we cannot magic up a route. If we have nine aircraft in Faro this summer, there is no point in us trying to put on a route from Faro back to Shannon. All of that traffic is southwards.

This type of traffic growth takes time and significant investment. Each of the three aircraft in Shannon and Cork is a piece of kit worth $100 million. We have other markets around Europe. If the Minister tells us that Dublin is full and we cannot get additional slots, the alternative is not to move the aircraft to Shannon or Cork. Much as we would like to, those are thin and difficult markets. The alternative is to move the aircraft to Amsterdam, Manchester or Glasgow. Bristol is a city of 1 million people. The aircraft would be lost to Ireland. Some will go to Belfast. We have two aircraft based in Belfast. We believe we can resolve some of the pressure this Christmas by having returning emigrants come home via Belfast. It is not the worst option in the world.