Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

On providing proper funding for the marketing of the preclearance facility at Shannon, the Minister said €20 million was provided by the State. This, however, will be fully recouped through an extra charge, which when added to the airport travel tax, will mean an extra €20.50 charge per passenger. The €20 million in funding already given to the airport will, through various levies, be recouped and is effectively a loan. It is disingenuous to claim the Government has given €20 million for this facility. The money will be recouped from passengers and paid back to the DAA.

The preclearance facility is excellent but it needs to be marketed properly. If people are unaware of it, it will be difficult to make it a large competitive advantage for Shannon, Limerick and the mid-west region. What is needed is a proper marketing fund; €4.5 million is not enough. While the Minister was dismissive of the economic and tourism development plan for Shannon Airport catchment area, it was a Department of Transport official who co-ordinated the preparation of the report and it was launched by the Minister's colleague in the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism with great fanfare. This report was commissioned by the Government and it called for €53 million to be spent on promoting tourism in the mid-west. The preclearance facility at Shannon is a great opportunity for developing the region's tourism.

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