Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I understand the strong case that is being made to extend the short-hop zone. My colleague Councillor Sharon Tolan has been leading the charge on this. Her argument is that if Kilcoole in County Wicklow, which is 55 km south of the centre of Dublin, is in the short-hop zone, Laytown, Bettystown and Drogheda should also be included in that zone. That is a strong case. We need to assess the cost and see if other areas fall into the same category. For example, some towns in Kildare would be as near to Dublin as Drogheda but also do not fall within the short-hop zone. We would have to look at it in the round, or in the arc if that makes any sense, and we are doing that at the moment.

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