Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's Government went ahead with the dismantling of the Shannon company. Unfortunately, when he separated out Shannon, the Minister made very significant promises about putting in place a new company that would incorporate the airport and SFADCo. While most of the employees have been transferred out of SFADCo, some still remain. That organisation is no longer in a position to carry out the remit that was originally provided to it and the Minister is now telling us the legislation will, at best, be coming forward towards the end of this session. I do not believe that is acceptable, either to the people who are directly affected or to the people who have now been put in charge of the airport, who are effectively hamstrung in their ability to create the kind of external employment outside of the confines the Minister talked about. Shannon Development has been obliterated and the Minister has not succeeded in bringing forward appropriate legislation to allow Shannon Airport to develop.

The Minister will be aware that his party in government made very significant promises around Lynx Cargo. It was a catch-cry of its candidates in the constituency that a cargo facility was going to be built and paid for by the State.

That has not happened, despite the promises that were made. Aer Lingus's maintenance division has moved its facilities to Dublin to free up a hangar for Transaero, which was supposed to provide a considerable increase in employment in the area of aircraft maintenance. I understand those plans have now been shelved.

There has been a great deal of glossing over the separation process. The Minister's decision to separate Shannon was based on projections of an increase of 500,000 passengers in the first year of its operation as an independent entity. That has not materialised. While the Minister and his representatives in the region will attempt to draw a broad brush over the issue, the facts of the matter, when one drills down into the details, are somewhat askew in regard to the promises he made.

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