Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 63 together.   These relate to the merger of Shannon Airport and Shannon Development.

Work on the preparation of the heads of a Bill to provide for the merger of the Shannon Airport Authority, SAA, and a restructured Shannon Development is ongoing in my Department, in conjunction with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and with the assistance of the Attorney General's office. It is unlikely that work on the new legislation will be sufficiently advanced to facilitate its enactment prior to the summer recess and I am now looking to the autumn session to introduce the Bill to the House.  It remains the position, however, that when the heads are finalised and approved by Government, I will refer them to the Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht for consideration prior to drafting.

This has no material effect on the plans for the merger, preparations for which continue apace. The high level steering group of key Departments meets on a regular basis to oversee the implementation of the Government decisions in relation to Shannon Airport and Shannon Development. The Chairman of SAA and a representative of ICTU also serve on this group. Transition teams at senior management level are also in situ in both SAA and Shannon Development to identify and agree the necessary change processes and transitional measures to ensure the smooth implementation and management of the merger, while also ensuring that normal day-to-day business and operations carry on uninterrupted.

Staff transfers from Shannon Development to Fáilte Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA are scheduled to take place in June following conclusion of a facilitation process between management and union representatives in the company, along with relevant Departments, to address a number of staff issues, including the recent Labour Court recommendation on grading. The deadline for completion of that process is 23 May. In addition, the process to recruit a chief executive for the Shannon Airport Authority and the new Shannon entity is nearing completition and I expect an announcement will be made shortly.

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