Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I welcome the Minister's acceptance that the very notion of competing terminals is flawed and it is about time someone said this. That not a single person in the media has questioned this concept over the past six months or so is extraordinary. Does the Minister accept that the battle that has been taking place inside the Cabinet in recent months is nonsense given that there is no such thing as successful competing terminals? Why has the Minister not convinced his partners in Government that this is nonsense? Why can we not have a decision to proceed with the much needed expansion of the facility in Dublin Airport? Do the Minister's partners in Government not understand the logic of what we are talking about? Has he not managed to convince them that there is no such thing as successful competing terminals? For the sake of the travelling public, will the Minister get that message across to them and get on with the job of expanding the facilities? The issue at Dublin Airport is capacity, not competition, and the Minister should be able to convince his partners of this.

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