Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the open skies agreement with the USA. It is a very positive development for tourism here and has long been a major objective of tourism policy. It has been supported by industry interests and endorsed by the tourism policy review group. Already, following on from the open skies deal, Aer Lingus has announced new services to San Francisco, Orlando and Washington Dulles.

The open skies regime will result in the phasing out of the Shannon stop-over policy. This is a challenge and an opportunity for Shannon Airport. If the airport is to successfully rise to this challenge, a number of issues will need to be addressed, including the efficiency of the airport, the development of new routes into Shannon Airport, improvements to the ground transport infrastructure around the airport and the further development of the tourism product around the region.

I am pleased to note that significant progress has been made in recent months in putting the airport on a more sound business footing. This is vital because if the airport does not deliver a cost-efficient service, its future will be limited.

The Government, under its agreed programme, is committed to providing "significant infrastructural development in the Mid West area, as well as marketing support... for a transitional period to help consolidate existing markets and develop new sources of business". To help deliver on this commitment, my colleague, the Minister for Transport and the Marine, is bringing an economic and tourism development plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area to the Cabinet. The draft plan will address the marketing issue. Whatever the Government decides in relation to the plan, the Deputy may assume Tourism Ireland, Shannon Development and other agencies will make a special drive to deal with the challenges facing the area.

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