Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach said Shannon has improved, which is has, in terms of passenger numbers and additional capacity, but it needs support, help, political and ministerial direction and the support of airlines to take up its level of capacity. This issue is also about supporting business which needs direct connectivity from its base in the mid-west to Europe and further afield and stopping the waste of time and carbon on long road journeys. People who start a journey by air are doing three or four hours on our roadways. It is about having an aviation policy that supports Dublin as a base for global connectivity and ensure passengers who want to fly to the regions can get there directly. Shannon already, as the Taoiseach said, has the infrastructure and facilities. It can resolve the constraint problems currently in Dublin. It has first-class infrastructure, which is underused, in a location to which people want to go. Shannon has the longest runway in Ireland and one of the longest in Europe. It has everything going for it but the problem is we are not getting political direction to ensure that whatever incentives are required, we need to take the pressure off Dublin, redirect it to Shannon and Cork and utilise the facilities there, which are part of our national infrastructure

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