Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

Will the Minister consider bringing together the various tourism interests in the region? This is serious issue and I do not raise it for the sake of it. The airport is almost empty every day after 11 a.m. It is facing a bleak future and I ask the Minister to seriously examine tourism in the west, particularly in the context of short haul routes. Only one short haul route with a limited service will be operated by Ryanair from tomorrow out of the airport and that will have a devastating effect on tourism operators in the region.

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