Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

This Administration can be fairly accused of being long on promises but short on action. The DAA stands accused of asset stripping and also of riding roughshod over the assurances that both Cork and Shannon airports would start with clean balance sheets. The question the Government has failed to answer is who will end up paying this bill. Clearly, if both Cork and Shannon airports are saddled with heavy debts they will be forced to pass the extra cost on to passengers using those airports. Inevitably, that means that they will be hamstrung from the outset and hard put to compete in what has become and very competitive airline business. So much for regional development. Where is the national development plan?

See this speech in context