Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

The decision to eliminate the public service obligation subsidies for all regional airports in the west is both wrong and illogical. The Minister has announced that he will close the regional airports on the north-western, western and southern coasts apart from Kerry and Donegal. His argument for retaining Donegal is the county's isolation and lack of interurban roads. Sligo and Knock are in the same position in that there is no direct road link to Dublin. It is amazing the Minister should retain Donegal when he knows there is another airport in the north-west, in Derry, because he used it to travel to the Glenties to attend the Magill summer school. The entire province of Connacht, however, will now be deprived of any Government subsidy for regional airports.

It is outrageous the Minister should be making an announcement of this nature. There were indications in the budget that the PSO would be reduced but the total elimination is not acceptable.

The Minister did not consult other relevant Departments, such as the Department of Finance or the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, to see what could be done in terms of connectivity for the isolated periphery of the country. We know these regions are economically dependent on airport accessibility and that foreign direct investment depends upon them. Multinational businesspeople need global transport structures to go about their business. Industries were attracted to peripheral areas because the IDA could promise accessibility that is now being done away with. The only part of the economy doing well at present, the export-led multinational sector, is having the rug pulled from under it. Personnel will not have the necessary connectivity. It is outrageous.

There is not much good land in the west of Ireland but the landscape is very attractive. The tourism industry is highly dependent on airport access, with regional airports in Sligo and in Knock, a place where we never thought an airport would survive. Effectively, Knock is now in a serious position and will find it difficult to operate on a commercial basis. The Minister stated in the document that it is not commercially viable. It could easily close.

The Minister for Transport is not operating unilaterally. This is not merely a transport matter, but a matter of the economy, tourism, foreign direct investment and accessibility. He should link up with the other relevant Departments and put together a task force to deal with the threat to the regional airports, ensuring the service that is so urgently needed continues to be provided in those areas.

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