Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

In reply to Deputy Mitchell, as a matter of interest I met with Continental Airlines representatives when I was in Houston which is its main hub. This was one of the reasons for my visit to America for the St. Patrick's day festivities. The airline is very robust in its attitude to Ireland. It is confident about the current number of its flights and sees great potential for expansion. It is very aware of the Shannon pre-clearance proposals and the facilities at Dublin and these are regarded as a great boost to the use of Shannon Airport. I confirm that the airlines are acutely aware of this proposal. It is under the remit of the Minister for Transport but the process is now being finalised with the US State Department and discussions are ongoing. These facilities are staffed from the US as opposed to this country.

In reply to Deputy Upton, there has been a natural and substantial decline in costs which is having a positive effect and there has been significant discounting in the tourism sector, both in hotel accommodation and in restaurants. I know that in Dublin the level of discounting has been up to about 20% which is rebalancing the competitiveness of Ireland. One of the benefits of the current economic scenario is that our tourism sector is becoming more competitive when compared with some of our international competitors. This is to our advantage when marketing Irish tourism, within the US and the UK and throughout continental Europe.

On the OPW, it is hoped that issues will be resolved. I understand the point made by Deputy Naughten. It is important to have the maximum number of facilities open for as long as possible over the weekends and at bank holidays. Improvements in opening hours were made last year but there are certain financial constraints which we hope can be overcome.

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