Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Yes, that is an element of it, and it is a fair point. However, if one speaks to airlines, Tourism Ireland and hotel operators, they all want the ability to offer cheaper breaks in Ireland and they want people to be able to travel through airports as cost effectively as possible. That is essentially what this is about, no more, no less.

The initiative the DAA introduced in December did not make sense. It sought to measure the overall passenger numbers coming through Irish airports and once the number went above a ceiling, contributed to by all of the airlines, the DAA would reduce passenger charges for everybody coming through the airport. In other words, if Ryanair expanded its numbers, everybody would piggy-back on that. That is not a way of targeting different airlines to incentivise them to build their numbers, which is what we are now trying to do. I expect the Minister to be successful in that.

With regard to the transport sector and the reallocation of funds for the roads programme, at long last we have seen County Cork getting some priority as it receives nearly double the amount allocated to the next best county. This makes a change as it has been at the bottom of the list for years in the allocation of funds per kilometre of road.

With regard to energy-----

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