Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the budget which was put forward by the Minister for Finance in the House on Tuesday. I will focus on one significant aspect of the budget for County Clare and the mid-west and west. I particularly welcome the establishment of a new fund which will secure new routes for regional airports, including Shannon and Cork, Brexit or no Brexit. The new fund consists of €10 million over three years which will enable airports to secure new strategic routes. I have previously raised this matter with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Taoiseach, Shannon Group and the chambers of commerce in Ennis, Shannon, Galway and Limerick. There is an onus on the management of Shannon Airport to take full advantage of the newly established route development fund. The measure announced in the budget could play a major role in the establishment of a vital connection from Shannon to Frankfurt which could potentially provide a €412 million boost for the mid-west and west. We cannot afford to let this opportunity slip. Shannon Group has a duty to ensure the airport will receive the full benefit of this initiative.

Limerick Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with Ennis, Shannon and Galway chambers of commerce, commissioned a worthwhile report which assessed aviation policy as a driver of economic activity in the west and mid-west. One of its recommendations was the establishment of a fund such as the one to which I have referred. Much of the groundwork to establish the new strategic route from Shannon to Frankfurt has already been done, following the publication of another major report from the Danish international consultancy group Copenhagen Economics which concludes that aviation and enterprise policy must be linked if the Government is to deliver on its policy of achieving balanced regional development.

Shannon Airport adds €306 billion to Ireland's GDP and supports 43,700 jobs. Approximately 1.7 million passengers travel through it every year on 13,000 flights. This implies that at peak times, only 45% of the airport's capacity is being utilised. The spare capacity offers untapped potential to deliver balanced regional development without requiring new investments. It could also alleviate the pressure on Dublin and reduce the need for costly infrastructural spending. The Copenhagen Economics report also concludes that the establishment of a frequent route between Shannon and Frankfurt Airport, with two flights every weekday and one flight at the weekend, would generate an additional €412 million in GDP. The Government might support this route as part of its implementation of the regional spatial and economic strategy for the southern region, in which international financial services are an integral part of the smart specialisation and clustering strategy. Strengthening this connection and making it international via a new route to Frankfurt would complement the financial clusters in the west and mid-west, thus ensuring the sustainability of the route in the long term. The Copenhagen Economics report recommends a range of governmental supports and interventions amid concerns about the regional impact and dominance of Dublin Airport at the expense of other airports.

Passenger numbers at Shannon Airport have increased by more than 460,000 since 2012 when the airport became an independent entity.

In the same period Dublin Airport has increased passenger numbers by 12.4 million and Cork Airport by only 52,000. Spreading just 20% of that growth across the regions would still leave Dublin Airport with 10 million additional passengers and the regions with an additional 2.5 million. Such a move would have a far greater economic impact. I wholeheartedly welcome the €10 million route development fund and look forward to Shannon Airport capitalising on it for the benefit of the mid-west and west region in the interests of achieving balanced regional development.

One aspect of the budget about which I have concerns is the just transition fund. It is critically important that the economy of west Clare be kept under consideration in that regard. Moneypoint is a coal burning power plant and needs a just transition to support it. I have met the Minister on several occasions to discuss the issue. It is critical that the Moneypoint plant be included in the plan.

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