Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I will start on a positive note. I welcome that this legislation is going through the Dáil before the summer recess. I raised the matter on the Order of Business with the Taoiseach more than a week ago and expressed the view that it should come before the Dáil before the summer recess to ensure that Shannon Airport was accommodated. The Minister will be aware that the building and other works are already in place in Shannon to allow it to proceed by the end of July. I note the Bill's explanatory memorandum states:

The Preclearance Agreement will come into force following the enactment of the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009 and an exchange of diplomatic notes confirming that certain conditions have been met, including inter alia, the existence of sufficient traffic at the relevant airport and the provision of adequate security to protect the preclearance facility and all personnel.

I ask the Minister to indicate the status of those particular issues. When does he expect that the diplomatic notes will have been exchanged and the full preclearance facility can become operational at Shannon Airport? Deputy Breen mentioned that, on the face of it, there does not appear to be preclearance for cargo. If that is the case, does the Minister envisage it coming into being at some stage, hopefully sooner rather than later?

On a positive note, the exclusive agreement between the US and Ireland on preclearance for Shannon Airport and at a later stage Dublin Airport gives a competitive advantage to Ireland over the rest of the EU. We often talk about exports and marketing Ireland. Preclearance provides an opportunity to market Shannon, the mid-west and western region. In that regard I am somewhat disappointed with what has happened to the tourism and economic development plan. I was a member of the Mid-West Regional Authority when it was prepared. It was commissioned by the Minister's predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Martin Cullen. It was a €53 million fund with €44 million over five years for marketing and €9 million for route support. The plan envisaged preclearance facilities being in place by the end of 2007 and €9 million per year to market the airport. Lo and behold, we are now looking at the bones of €4.5 million. This should be considered in terms of Ireland Inc. Ireland is getting a competitive advantage for our two main international airports and we need to exploit it. This needs proper funding and I hope the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, will have news for us tonight regarding that funding because this should be a win-win situation.

The Minister stated:

British Airways has announced that from the autumn it will be operating a business class only service from London City Airport to the US with a stopover at Shannon, precisely for the purpose of taking advantage of the preclearance services there... Preclearance is also being introduced at Shannon for private US-bound aircraft from September next.

That is all good news and I welcome it. However, we need funding to ensure that we get maximum value from the preclearance services. The Minister will know my views on Aer Lingus's recent announcement of its intention to reduce its transatlantic services. Aer Lingus will almost halve its transatlantic services from the autumn. The service to Boston will reduce from seven flights a week to four and the service to Chicago will reduce from three flights a week to no flight. Those flights will go to Dublin. On behalf of the taxpayer, the Minister for Finance has a 25% stake in Aer Lingus and gets to nominate three board directors. When there was only one State nominee, we called on the Minister to get the full State representation on the board and the Minister decided to nominate an additional two directors. At that time he specifically stated this was to protect strategic interests. Nothing could be more strategic than protecting the western seaboard and the mid-west in terms of Shannon.

Preclearance is to be commended. It is a phenomenal facility. Shannon and the mid-west have shown they are up to the task given that the airport is ready to proceed by the end of July. I ask the Minister to use the Government's 25% stake in Aer Lingus to ask it to defer any decisions on the Boston and Chicago flights until the preclearance is operational to see how it works. The Government should market it properly and put into practice balanced regional development. I am trying to be positive tonight. The preclearance facility is a win-win for Shannon Airport, the mid-west and western region. It is a win-win for Ireland Inc. and for exports. It effectively brings people into the country. At present, American tourists bring €280 million into Shannon, the mid-west and the western region. There is €35 billion in US multinational investment in the mid-west and the western region. The sheer scale of that indicates its importance.

A negative by-product of the reduction of transatlantic flights out of Shannon from 14 to eight per week is that flights between Shannon and Dublin reduce from ten flights a week to four. While I am open to correction from the Minister, on my analysis there will be no flights three days a week between Shannon and Dublin. We also get connectivity out of Dublin. To give context to this, when Aer Lingus discontinued its profitable flights between Shannon and Heathrow, the decision was short-sighted as has subsequently been proved. Not only has Aer Lingus resumed this service, but it has also announced that effective from 25 October, an A320 aircraft will be based at Shannon which will facilitate an increase in the Shannon-Heathrow services to three per day, subject to confirmation of slots. That is another positive story. The Shannon to Heathrow service should never have been stopped.

I am concerned at the reduction of transatlantic flights. Not only do we have a marketing tool in terms of preclearance for Shannon Airport, from the end of July we will have a comparative advantage over our EU counterparts in terms of airports. We must exploit this advantage by ensuring we properly fund tourism through the €53 million provided in the tourism and economic development plan. The Government should use its 25% stake in Aer Lingus to ensure there is no downgrading of the number of flights between Boston and Chicago into New York. Let us see how preclearance works and let us put in place funding. Preclearance has implications for us in terms of connectivity to Dublin through Shannon.

Fine Gael would like the air travel tax to be abolished. Ryanair and Aer Lingus have stated it is one of the contributing factors in their reducing transatlantic flights and for the reduction in other flights by Ryanair. The Minister should take the bull by the horns and ask the Minister for Finance to abolish this tax which makes no sense. It is preventing people from travelling here and it makes no sense. We need to work together to ensure preclearance is up and running as a matter of urgency. I hope the Minister can confirm that it will be operational by the end of July and that the required funding in this regard will be put in place. The Government should use its 25% stake in Aer Lingus to ensure the transatlantic flights continue, which will be a good news story for Shannon, the mid-west and Ireland Inc.

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