Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

In addition, there is a recently introduced on-line check-in fee of €5 per flight segment. If a person cannot check in on-line, there is a €40 check-in fee per flight segment.

I should point out that a person flying from any airport in the UK to Ireland is already paying, through the airlines, £11, or around €12, in air passenger duty to the UK Exchequer. Airlines do not appear to have any difficulty in applying the UK air passenger duty. In the case of long-haul flights a €10 tax as a proportion of the total price of a return fare is minimal.

It should be recognised that visitors to Ireland are only subject to the tax on the return journey. The additional €10, or €2 in the context of a much larger purchasing decision involving travel, hotel expenditure, etc., should have only a limited effect on tourist numbers. It must also be recognised that airlines benefit from an international tax exemption on jet fuel. The extent of this benefit is illustrated by the example that the tax, as a percentage of the price of a litre of petrol, is currently in excess of 60%.

A sense of balance must be brought to this debate. In the past few years, exceptional growth in air travel, to and from Ireland, took place.

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