Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I congratulate the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance on their work and the research and information on this being provided not only to public representatives but to the public in general. With the exception of the excellent chairman who is a member of the Minister's party and doing outstanding work to persuade him to change his view on this matter, those involved have no involvement in politics.

I wish to deal with the issue of tourism because it is important to my constituency. I live near Adare which depends heavily on tourism and has three excellent hotels, namely, the Dunraven Arms, Adare Manor Hotel and Fitzgerald's Woodland House Hotel. Rathkeale House Hotel is also situated nearby. These hotels will be severely affected by the Aer Lingus decision which the Minister refused to challenge. That decision will have a major impact on the tourism product in the county and, in particular, west Limerick.

According to Tourism Ireland, 27% of North American visitors to Ireland arrive by air from the United Kingdom. This figure includes those who come via London Heathrow. The United Kingdom, with London Heathrow, is a primary hub and remains an important entry point for US visitors to Ireland. Hoteliers in the west have prepared initial estimates which indicate that there would be a loss of €8.5 million in revenue if the decision to end the London Heathrow-Shannon connection proceeds. An estimated 233 jobs would also be lost at west of Ireland hotels. The management at Dromoland Castle indicated yesterday that it would definitely be laying people off when this connection was severed.

Capital investment projects worth a total of €113.5 million are on hold in the tourism sector as a result of uncertainty regarding flights to Heathrow. These projects have the potential to lead to the creation of 379 jobs in the west and mid-west but these will be lost if Aer Lingus proceeds with its plans. There will be a reduction of up to 10% in the number of North American visitors to the Shannon region as a result of the discontinuation of the Shannon-Heathrow air service.

Aughinish Alumina in my constituency avails of 500 round trips through Heathrow Airport, of which a total of 150 relate to employee usage, while the other 350 are designated for inward visits from customers and headquarters personnel. These flights are routed into Shannon via Heathrow. The Aughinish-Askeaton site is designated for demonstration purposes and headquarters operate from it. A centre of excellence is also located at the site. Just two weeks ago, 12 bankers from the United Kingdom flew into the area via Heathrow. In the first week in September 25 international journalists were flown in via the same airport. Heathrow access is, therefore, critical to Aughinish Alumina's demonstration site activities. I remind the Minister that there are 600 employees on site and that, in total, Aughinish Alumina employs in the region of 1,000 people. Neither he nor the Government were concerned with regard to the loss of almost 1,000 jobs at Castlemahon or Kantoher. I ask him to be concerned about the jobs that are going to be lost in the tourism and business sectors in the constituency of Limerick West.

Deputies Collins and Cregan have an opportunity to express themselves and inform their colleagues that they must change their minds on this matter. Deputy Collins spoke on radio and television and vigorously promoted what we are trying to do. We ask him to do so again.

The statement that the Government has a commitment to and an interest in the mid-west and the west is just a blatant lie.

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