Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I will come to that. The industry has been telling me that the travel tax goes against the spirit of trying to attract tourism and while it was originally targeted at bringing in approximately €125 million, it looks like it may only bring in approximately €80 million this year. However, €80 million is very hard to find. I have asked the airlines to indicate to me what they could give me in return for the removal of the tax. Ryanair has indicated what it would provide if the travel tax and the increased charges at Dublin Airport, Shannon Airport and Cork Airport were reversed, but has not indicated what it would provide if only the travel tax was involved. This is part of our negotiation platform.

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