Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I wish to share my time with my colleague, Deputy Joe Carey, who has an interest in this matter. I welcome the opportunity to raise this very important issue. Since the Minister for Finance's call to patriotic duty, proposals contained in his budget have been unravelling one by one. Last week we witnessed the grey revolution, today we witnessed the teachers' revolution and the farmers' revolution is on the way. The ramifications of an ill-thought out budget are coming home to roost.

Another of the Government's pie in the sky proposals is the introduction of a €10 air travel tax for all departing passengers from Irish airports. It is estimated that this taxation measure will raise €150 million in a full year. However, like other budget proposals, no thought was put into the implementation of this levy. The structure of the proposed tax discriminates against airports outside of Dublin. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that passengers departing from Shannon, Cork or Knock Airports will have to travel a greater distance to the UK than those passengers flying from Dublin Airport. However, as we all know, when aviation policy is being decided by the Department of Transport, Shannon Airport is not on the radar. Furthermore, the Government jet is not subject to this tax.

The measure is being implemented as a blunt instrument, in an unfair and inequitable fashion which is not acceptable, particularly at a time when Shannon Airport is already in the spotlight over proposals by Aer Lingus to shed 280 jobs and the tourism industry in the region is in free fall following the axing of the Shannon to Heathrow service. It is baffling as to why Shannon Airport is now expected to take a further hit.

The proposed tax has also placed a cloud over the retention of some of Ryanair's current routes at the airport. This week, Ryanair announced that the tax will reduce passenger numbers from 2 million to 700,000 if imposed in its current format. While Ryanair's motives may have more to do with the fact that its contract at Shannon Airport is up for negotiation in the next 18 months, the fact is that the tax is anti-competitive and must be reviewed.

Ten UK destinations are serviced from Shannon Airport by Ryanair. Approximately 302,000 passengers travelled from Shannon to London in the first six months of this year, a drop of 16% on the same period last year, while a further 254,000 passengers travelled to UK provincial destinations from Shannon during the same period. In comparison, 6.5 million passengers used Dublin Airport to travel to and from various airports in the UK. The majority of these passengers will now only have to pay €2, while passengers who depart from Shannon and other regional airports will have to pay €10. There is no logic to this from an economic or regional development point of view. While it is unfair for Ryanair to hold Shannon Airport to ransom in this fashion, it is particularly unfair to the travelling public who have to vote with their feet and travel from Dublin Airport.

This tax must be altered and I support the suggestion of my colleague, Deputy Michael Noonan, that if the Minister is insisting on introducing this tax, it should be a 300 km coastline tax. Travel to UK destinations from any airport in Ireland should be treated in the same fashion. In other words, the tax should only apply once the flight leaves the Irish coastline. Others have suggested the introduction of a flat rate tax but that would be detrimental to the development of long-haul travel.

I urge the Minister to review the tax. Dublin Airport already has an unfair advantage. There should be a level playing pitch at all airports. Our tourism sector is in free fall and for the sake of the west of Ireland, I urge the Minister to rethink this proposal.

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