Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I, too, welcome this legislation which has the potential to be of huge benefit to Ireland from a tourism and transport perspective. I have long been of the view that tourism and transport are inextricably linked and should not alone be housed in the same Department but should be part of a major economic Department, a view with which An Bord Snip agrees. This is essential given the importance of tourism to national and regional employment and to our economic development.

Transport policy is essential to tourism policy and to our economic development. As an island country, considerations such as access to the country and our need to move people and goods in and out of the country as seamlessly as possible are considerations that should supersede any others with which Government concerns itself. All decisions, regardless of from what Department they come, should be accessed-proofed by Government. The truth is that our island status is a huge disadvantage to us when it comes to traded goods and tourism. It behoves us to do everything possible to leapfrog that disadvantage. The introduction of a departure tax and the Minister's continued defence of it is perplexing.

I want, however, to be positive about this legislation because I believe it will give us an enormous competitive advantage. Whether going on holidays or on business to the United States, anybody who has stood in line in New York, Washington or Chicago and watched people miss flights, listened to screaming babies and their stressed out parents or witnessed people fainting will see the enormous advantage of preclearance for passengers and airlines. I assume the conditions available to people in Shannon or Dublin will be much more comfortable and less crowded than they are at airports in America.

I recently met with the tourism renewal group and I was a little disappointed to hear it say it did not see any potential for tourism or Shannon in the introduction of preclearance facilities at Shannon. It believes this to be a transit throughpoint for people, which is to miss the importance of this facility. The introduction of preclearance facilities has the potential to put Shannon back on the map and to allow it to play the role it played in the 1950s, namely, the entrance point to Ireland, the West and Europe from the United States and vice versa. Also, quite apart from it bringing tourists into Ireland, it can be the salvation of Shannon Airport. It will help to make it a viable and sustainable airport. I do not believe I am scaremongering in saying that currently it is neither. It desperately needs an offering to airlines that will give it a key advantage over other airports. It will also offer a lifeline to Aer Lingus as an airline with an established transatlantic route out of Shannon.

It is unfortunate that the introduction of this facility was delayed to the extent that it coincides with the recession and the current euro-dollar exchange rate. Given few airlines have taken advantage of the "Open Skies", it may be that other European airlines will not fully appreciate or take advantage of the full benefits of preclearance. I am pleased that British Airways has confirmed its intention to route its flights from London City Airport through Shannon. It was previously unclear whether such flights would be non-stop, and to hear the stop-over confirmed is good news.

The marketing of this advantage to every EU airport and airline flying the transatlantic route must be a national undertaking with the full backing of every Department. It cannot be left to the Dublin Airport Authority alone. While it is important to the authority, it is crucial for the entire country. I use the words "national undertaking" as I believe in tourism we already have a national crisis. By the end of this year, 50,000 jobs will be lost in this sector, which scarcely gets a line of print. It is perplexing that the Minister with responsibility for tourism believes the departure tax is an appropriate response for an industry ailing to that extent. If any other sector were losing even 10% of that number of jobs, it would receive huge headlines, task forces would be established and there would be cross-departmental efforts to reverse the fall. Tourism is suffering as a result of a failure to realise how important it is to our economy, in particular to employment.

As stated, preclearance is a facility in Europe which is unique to Ireland, which will initially commence in Shannon and later in Dublin. I understand the plan was to open the facility in Dublin following completion of Terminal 2. However, I am not convinced Terminal 2 will open when completed in 2010. It appears there would not be much point in the Dublin Airport Authority taking on the considerable additional operating costs associated with opening that terminal when the travel market is contracting with fewer people travelling through Dublin Airport. It may be that all our eggs are going to be in Shannon for the foreseeable future.

The private jet preclearance facility is unique to Shannon. This, too, has huge potential but only if private jet owners know about it. What efforts are being made to market this aspect of the preclearance facility, which may be even more important than the availability of the facility to commercial airlines? The prospect for business people of being able to fly direct into a domestic airport in America, perhaps close to their business destination, is very attractive. Again, it is only attractive if they know about it.

I have two major concerns, namely, that we market this facility and provide it at reasonable cost. I understand the cost being quoted is €10.50 per passenger in addition to the €1.50 landing charge. While I understand the need to defray costs, I wonder what exactly are the costs beyond the initial setting up of the facility, which I appreciate. While there may be security costs involved, security is currently provided in respect of the US facility already in place in Shannon and Dublin. Any outlay by the Exchequer should be viewed as an investment that will bring an even bigger prize. Overcharging may kill the goose that has the potential to lay a golden egg for us and the potential to save Shannon Airport, regional tourism and be of enormous assistance to Aer Lingus. It would be short-sighted to squeeze the last euro of income from it as we might be sacrificing something much more important.

Even more worrying is the stipulation in the legislation that the facility will not be set up without the guarantee of sufficient numbers.

The explanatory memoranda to the Bill state that the provision of preclearance facilities at an Irish airport will be contingent upon the existence of sufficient traffic to make feasible the efficient operation of the preclearance facility. That makes my blood run cold when we see the loss of flights from both Delta Airlines and Aer Lingus. What numbers will make this viable from the US perspective? It will not keep a facility running for seasonal use or occasional flights. It is extraordinary that Aer Lingus would cut flights from Shannon just when it is in pole position to capitalise on the opportunities this offers. It would be catastrophic for Ireland if we fail to capitalise on this unique competitive advantage. I ask the Minister to tell the House what numbers would be sufficient to make the facility viable.

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