Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Certainly the approach of Government is to try to ensure that there is balanced regional development. In respect of aviation policy, all of our airports on the west coast are critically important, from Cork right up to Donegal, including Kerry, Shannon and Knock. It is a very challenging environment at present for Shannon, particularly with the loss of Norwegian Air as a result of the Boeing MAX issue, which was another blow for the airport. I am working very closely with the aviation section in the Department and Tourism Ireland to see how we can improve the situation at Shannon. Since 2011, we have seen huge growth overall in terms of routes into and out of Ireland. That was also helped by the Government's decision to scrap the airport tax, which had been a very regressive move. We have maintained that this has been very helpful in terms of growing aviation in Ireland. We will continue to work and try to put more money in. I am currently campaigning to get more funding to support all of our airports, particularly our airports outside Dublin, in sourcing new routes and supporting the existing ones.

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