Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I just cannot share the Minister of State’s opinion that the private sector, which is putting probably €24 million into this project, does not know what it is doing but the Department does. I remind him that in 2007, a Fianna Fáil Government gave a commitment to do the runway extension at Waterford at a cost of €25 million. Just like 24-7 cath labs, our university and the N24 and N25, all these political promises have turned to ash.

I will direct my next comment to the Minister of State’s colleague beside him, the senior Minister. I contend the only thing blocking this project is the Minister’s evangelical ideas around aircraft emissions. He has Cabinet colleagues and they share collective Cabinet responsibility. Will he bring a memo to Cabinet on the funding of Waterford airport and let his Cabinet colleagues look at this and make a group decision on this and not keep this project entirely unto himself because he personally does not want to do it and he would prefer to walk out of this Parliament as the man who never increased aviation emissions in this country despite all the new power sources that will reduce those in coming years?

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