Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is correct that €100 million capital is available under Transport 21 for regional airports. He may be aware that the EU has changed its guidelines in terms of the ability of states to invest in regional airports. Much of this is as a result of the activities of Ryanair and other regional airports which makes it much more difficult to make money available for specific airport projects. However, I hope the discussions are nearing completion in Brussels. We had to achieve an agreed set of guidelines with Brussels on the basis on which we would make money available to regional airports, which is why there has been no drawdown so far.

As the Deputy may be aware, a number of different plans have been submitted by Knock airport. We have now reached the point of putting in place the more realistic plans. I recently flew to Knock, which is a fine airport. I am aware of the issue of the apron capacity adjacent to the terminal. Clearly there is an issue in terms of expansion. I gather from members of the board of Knock airport that they would like investment to begin the project. As soon as the discussions in Brussels for a framework for capital funding for regional airports conclude, we will hone the proposals from Knock to see what the priority is and how we can roll out the resources required.

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