Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

All I can do is make a judgment call on the basis that, where it was tried, it was an abject failure with charges being four times higher in the privately run facility and the state eventually buying it back. Of the 13 expressions of interest, one that was submitted by an airline argued against the concept of an independent or competing terminal, only five could be regarded as clear in terms of concept and location and none gave clear answers regarding the financial and economic dimensions of such a proposal. Only one gave a suggestion of a landing charge, which was in the order of €8.50 in comparison with the €4.90 charge in Dublin Airport at present. So much for this type of competition.

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