Dáil debates

Thursday, 13 January 2011

2:00 pm

Photo of Martin ManserghMartin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I am replying to this matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey. I thank the Deputy for raising it.

Having fully considered the conclusions and recommendations of the value for money review of Exchequer expenditure on regional airports, the Government has agreed to support the continuation of a public service obligation, PSO, route between Donegal and Dublin and between Kerry and Dublin. The necessary approval to continue these PSO air services will be sought from the European Commission. Once approved, specifications for the services will be settled and arrangements will be put in place for a tender competition in respect of these two routes.

In line with the review, the Government has also agreed to cease requiring PSO routes between Dublin and Sligo, Knock, Galway and Derry, from July 2011, recognising, inter alia, the improvements in alternative transport modes by rail and road which have taken place particularly with Government investment under Transport 21 in recent years.

The VFM review is part of the Government's value for money and policy review initiative introduced to secure improved value for money from public expenditure. The review initiative evaluates past Exchequer expenditure against the regional airport programme objectives and examines the scope for achieving those objectives more efficiently and effectively in the future. The review was published yesterday and is available for download on the Department's website.

Under updated EU legislation governing the PSO air services, more stringent conditions will apply in the future, having regard for example, to the availability of other transport connections and especially rail services with a travelling time of three hours or less. The change in EU legislation, the substantial investment in surface transport, the completion of the review and the requirement to make best use of scarce Exchequer resources, were all taken into consideration by Government in making this decision and it is not the Minister for Transport's intention to reverse that decision.

It must be borne in mind that there are many demands on the Department of Transport's Vote and trying to maintain a level of expenditure on the regional airports programme which is no longer justified or sustainable would impact negatively on other areas such as public transport provision and-or road maintenance. Overall, the Minister for Transport believes the combination of an improved surface transport network together with a more consolidated air service network to regional airports, along with the State airports at Cork, Shannon and Dublin, provides the necessary transport access to underpin Ireland's sustainable development.

Where a PSO route is being terminated from mid-July 2011, the route will be open to commercial air services from that date. In addition to the PSO scheme, there are two other schemes which provide Exchequer support to the regional airports, an OPEX scheme which provides money to airports to cover all or part of their operational losses in any given year and a CAPEX scheme which provides finance towards the cost of necessary infrastructure at our regional airports. The Minister for Transport is giving further consideration to these schemes and will revert to Government shortly with proposals.

If I might just add a couple of comments of my own, at some time in the past 20 years I have used every single regional airport, some of them several times. They are an asset to the country but they were constructed at a time when the road services in particular and the frequency of rail services were very different from what they are now. At least one regional airport, the south-east Waterford airport, was never in receipt of a PSO. I gather it has had discussions with the Department of Transport and it is satisfied with the outcome. I hope all the regional airports mentioned will continue to provide services but under other conditions.

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