Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

In regard to airport charges, the Minister is comparing Dublin Airport to airports in other European capital cities, which is not necessarily comparing like with like. The vast majority of capital cities have both a conventional airport and a low-cost airport, whereas Dublin Airport facilitates both services. In the case of low-cost airports which are served by airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair, there are much lower charges.

We have seen almost a 30% reduction in passenger numbers and, at the same time, a 45% increase in airport charges. That is the reality. We cannot continue to compensate for falling passenger numbers by increasing airport charges. We cannot continue to subsidise the operation of airports that no longer have sufficient passenger numbers to cover their running costs. It is in this context that I have asked the Minister on several occasions what the Government approach is to this problem. Is it to facilitate competition between airports and potentially facilitate competition between terminals in terms of the operation of the two terminals in Dublin Airport or is similar to what the Spanish Government is looking at, namely, to sell a minority stake in the overall company? Is to continue with Irish aviation policy as it is, even though it is failing us and resulting in continuing falling numbers?

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