Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Is it not the case that at least two of the companies that tendered for the contract have experience of running international airports that are far bigger than Dublin Airport? Notwithstanding what the Minister said, would it not be possible to ask those companies - which, having met certain criteria, were pre-selected before entering the tendering process - to put forward the best deals they can draw up? These could be compared with the DAA's plan and the contract could then be awarded to the most competitive bidder. If the DAA ends up running Terminal 2 in addition to Terminal 1 and the other airports throughout the country, there will be no competition, no choice, consumers will be obliged to pay more and taxpayers will ultimately lose out.

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