Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is not just a geographical stepping stone between Europe and the United States; Shannon Airport offers much more than that. We have the pre-clearance facility in Shannon which is so important. We need to see that back up and fully functioning again. In the past number of weeks, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was in the airport to open and see at first hand the new baggage screening facility which is unique in Europe. It is a €12 million facility backed hugely by the Government. It is unique in Europe in that the United States and European security requirements are now perfectly aligned in Shannon Airport for screening baggage. Along with pre-clearance, that gives us an edge over other European airports, but we need to drive it on more now. We need to see planes back in the sky. I am delighted we are hearing that United Airlines should be back there in the springtime. That is certainly something we need to see. In the Minister's concluding remarks, I ask him to refer to policy proposals I submitted to both him and the Minister of State some weeks back, to note if his Department looked at them. Much has been done for Shannon Airport but a hell of a lot more is needed. Until we have planes back in the sky, we will not see a full recovery of our airport and the many people who depend on it.

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