Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

The Labour Party is opposed to the breaking up of Aer Rianta, which is an historically strong aviation company which has served the State so well. At the same time we have recently seen a number of State companies in the electricity market, such as Bord Gáis and the ESB, competing strongly against each other.

I wish to ask about the debt situation. The Minister was not in his current portfolio before the last general election, but his party made a promise to the people of Cork that their airport would be established on its own debt free. The Government then came along in a cavalier way, tried to lumber the airport with €113 million in debt and put pressure on it to sell some of its 500 acres. How does the Minister stand in respect of this question and that on Cork Airport's viability?

Cork and Shannon airports have suffered grievously from the recession and the downturn in numbers. Has the Minister spoken with the DAA in the context of putting major new initiatives into the two sister national airports?

What does the Minister expect Dublin Airport's debt levels to be? When Mr. Declan Collier, chief executive of the DAA, attended the Joint Committee on Transport, he mentioned debts of €500 million in light of Terminal 2, T2, and other works. He then stated the debts could escalate to €1.2 billion in the next decade. Is the Minister concerned by these debt levels and what does he intend to do? Is he just trying to pass the task on to the next Government?

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