Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

To put the Deputy's comments in context, the airport charges at Dublin Airport are well below the average and, if I recall correctly, are probably one of the lowest sets of airport charges anywhere in Europe for an airport of its size. Therefore, I would not start from the premise that our airport charges are higher than elsewhere or that we are not in line with the rest of Europe. The reality is that we are much better placed than other countries.

I agree with the Deputy that the lower we can keep the charges, the better it will be for consumers. However, privatisation or part-privatisation of an asset such as the Dublin Airport Authority might cause its own difficulty. One would, quite rightly, have to put on one side of this equation the possibility that if the three airports were split up, there might - and it is only a maybe - be greater competition. It is difficult to prove it would be so, but that is certainly one side of the argument. However, the other side of the equation which must be taken into account is the question of whether, in selling or diluting the State's share in the airport, one would be in a position to secure the type of investment in infrastructure that is necessary, particularly, for example, investment in runways before they are needed in order to facilitate future expansion. There is a debate to be had in this regard, and that can take place as soon as the McCarthy report is made available.

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