Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In response to my call in this House a number of weeks ago for Shannon Airport to return to the control of the DAA, the Minister said that would not solve the underlying strategic issues at the airport. With almost 90% of routes going to Dublin Airport, would he not accept that Shannon Airport, as a stand-alone airport, is one of those strategic issues that needs to be addressed?

The return of Shannon Airport to the DAA umbrella needs to happen and while it will not be a panacea for all the airport's problems, and nobody has ever said that, it would be a first step in addressing some of the issues at the airport. The wrong political decision was taken in 2012 and I call again on the Minister to reverse the decision. The ball is in his court and it is time to get into the game on this issue.

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