Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Mitchell on her motion. I will speak in the context of Shannon Airport, which is the international airport for the mid-west and the western seaboard, and specifically with regard to my own constituency area of Limerick.

Governments introduce taxes to collect revenue, so one would not expect a loss of revenue to result from the introduction of a tax. The travel tax brought in €160 million over a 12-month period, but there has been a loss of nearly four times that figure in revenue, along with 3,000 jobs and possibly more. There has also been a reduction of 1.2 million in the number of passengers departing from Ireland. It makes absolutely no sense.

The Minister for Finance is forever giving examples of what has happened in other countries. Why did he not mention what happened in the Netherlands, where such a tax was introduced and then, when the authorities saw the error of their ways, removed? It is a disgrace that the only mid-west Deputy in the House at the moment is Deputy Cregan. Not one of the relevant Ministers - the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Transport, or the new Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Deputy Hanafin - is in the Chamber.

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