Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

That is a different story to do with competition. It is on the record that Mr. Barrot has no problem with Ireland having its own bilateral agreement. The Minister has done nothing to protect Shannon Airport.

In a recent report, Tourism Ireland stated that an open skies policy would result in Shannon's transatlantic business becoming seasonal. The chambers of commerce report, by Mr. Dukes and Mr. Sørensen, stated that Shannon would lose up to 40% of business under an open skies system. While the Government is good at producing reports and policy documents, it still has not carried out an impact study on the open skies policy. As it will be important to understand the effects an open skies policy will have on the mid-west region, will the Minister carry out an impact study?

See this speech in context