Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The irony is that Dublin Airport is quite happy to keep Cork Airport. The deal is disastrous from the Dublin Airport Authority's point of view. It is giving away one of the most valuable assets in its group while having to sell off and maximise all the others. It would want to keep Cork Airport within its remit because it is a very successful airport and makes a very substantial contribution. This would involve Dublin Airport bearing all the debts.

It is ironic that Dublin Airport tells me I am giving the airport away and that it is happy to keep it, given the astonishing comments made by some in the Opposition about the inability of Cork Airport to be viable. Small regional airports have millions of euro in debts, yet according to some Opposition Deputies, an international airport such as Cork is unable——

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