Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

This is obviously a serious matter for the rest of the country, apart from Dublin. The short-based holiday package now seems to be centred around the capital. As regards recent newspaper reports on a second terminal at Dublin Airport which the Minister, and indeed everyone, welcomed, will this not mean further advancement of the Dublin area as the ideal location for short-based holidays and therefore create even greater problems for the south and the entire western seaboard? I welcome what the Minister said as regards the various offices that now depict the different regions. Is there any mechanism to enhance further usage of the many airports that we now have? Many airports are being actively used as regards access to the city, but we do not appear to be bringing in holiday makers to these designated airports which would benefit the tourist industry as a whole.

See this speech in context