Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

The Tánaiste's first reply was more characteristic of the Taoiseach, in talking about extraneous matters such as decentralisation and the amount of jobs that are being located in the area. Her second response, however, was more forthright and focused. The real reason, however, is to give some economic justification to the break-up of Aer Rianta and the stand-alone policies of the airport. Is it not a fact that the only reason the Tánaiste is taking this decision is to transfer the rental income of the Shannon Development Company to the airport to put a gloss on the economic situation? In that way, the proposals by her colleague, the Minister for Transport, to break up Aer Rianta and establish each of the airports on a stand-alone basis have at least some semblance of economic sense. The Tánaiste should simply state that that is the only reason. All the rest is only fluff to hide the motivation which is purely ideological.

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