Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

It is illegal and we would not get away with it. The €44 million sought in market support is equivalent to the entire Tourism Ireland budget. We are providing about €2 billion in transport infrastructure in the Shannon region. About €13 million is being provided for broadband roll-out. The DAA has invested about €100 million in Shannon Airport in the past four or five years. The area is being well supported.

The matter of a PSO for the Shannon to London route is being pursued by the Department with the EU. We must first find out whether the EU would favour this kind of route. The normal PSO is from peripheral regions within a country. We would have to get approval from the British Government for this and I am not sure how forthcoming that would be for flights into London Heathrow.

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