Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach was in Derry recently for a number of engagements. He met with a cross-party delegation of councillors from Donegal, Derry and Strabane. At that meeting, the issue of the funding of City of Derry Airport was put to him. It was welcomed by those present that he said he would look at the shared island initiative as a potential source of funding. Why is this so essential? A total of 40% of the passengers who use City of Derry Airport are from Donegal. It has connections to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and a number of other locations in Europe. It services a population of half a million. As the Taoiseach knows, the geography of Donegal means that people in Inishowen, Letterkenny and Finn Valley use City of Derry Airport and those in the rest of the county would use the airport in west Donegal. We have not seen the delivery of the A5 project. It has been a heartbreaker that the whole project just has not come through. We do not have a rail connection from the fourth largest city, with half a million people, to our capital city of Dublin. There is no motorway, no rail connection and, for the past ten years, no air connection.

This project is essential and I appeal to the Taoiseach to work with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to whom, as well as to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, I spoke in this Chamber last night. I made the same appeal to them that they work together with the Taoiseach, through the shared island initiative, to deliver funding to the airport. That would mean we can get this region of half a million people to connect to Dublin Airport and the rest of the world. It is not just about commuting to Dublin. It is about connecting to the rest of the world and ensuring tourists and the rest of the world can connect, through Dublin, on to Derry and into the north west. It is vital. It is about equality of access. I know the Taoiseach understands this but we really need the issue to be tackled once and for all. It has been ten years of delays and we need it sorted out.

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