Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We were happy in the summer to see the Tánaiste down at the future mobility hub. Shannon and the mid-west is only scratching the surface of its potential there.

Many people are shocked in Ireland to discover that only 1% of cargo leaves our country via the air. Given the number of planes that crisscross this country every day, we are uniquely geographically positioned between Europe and the United States. We have so many natural advantages and we should be capitalising on that.

Luxembourg has Cargolux. It is a small country but, minute though it might be, it is a world leader in terms of Cargolux and getting cargo shipments throughout the world.

I look with envy every time I pass Baldonnell in Dublin. The new Amazon facility there of 58,000 sq. ft. employs 500 people. Only two weeks ago, it shipped out its first parcels from its Ireland facility. There are 30 of these facilities in the UK. It is inevitable that Amazon will want more facilities in Ireland. We would like to know, I suppose, specifically, has the Tánaiste advanced proposals for it to locate in Shannon Airport, particularly given the new facility that will soon be built there for cargo handling and shipment.

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