Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 60 together.

The May 2005 Government decision on the construction of the second terminal at Dublin Airport provided for the selection of the operator of the terminal through an open tender process organised by an independent group. Consultants were appointed by my Department in 2008 to advise in the first instance on an appropriate facilities management procurement process. Having considered the consultants' report at the end of this first phase, I mandated the consultants to proceed to organise the procurement process.

The formal procurement started in July 2009 with pre-qualification submissions received in late September 2009. Following the evaluation of the pre-qualification submissions, the consultants reported that none of the candidates had met the minimum requirements for pre-qualification. Furthermore, having completed a market debrief process, the consultants concluded that there was a low probability that the process, if restarted, would prove successful. Unfortunately, I had no option but to terminate the procurement process in light of this advice.

Following the decision to terminate the facilities management procurement process, I announced, on 10 March, that I was mandating the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, to operate terminal 2, while requiring it to demonstrate that it could do so within a benchmark set by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, CAR. In this context, the Dublin Airport charges determination for 2010 to 2014, made by CAR in December last year, has set very specific and stringent operating cost targets for operating an efficient terminal 2. I have asked the DAA to report back to me within three months on its capacity to operate terminal 2 satisfactorily with effect from November 2010.

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