Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I join with the Taoiseach and other speakers in congratulating Deputies Cairns and Higgins. It is good to be back here again.

With the population continuing to grow and the pressure on all forms of public transport increasing, it should be no surprise to anyone that the 2007 planning condition imposed on the Dublin Airport Authority that it could only cater for 32 million passengers per annum would be exceeded at some point. During last November's general election campaign, all leaders -those now in government and in opposition- pledged they would lift the Dublin Airport passenger cap if they were in power. It was inevitable that at some point in the lifetime of this Government that legislation to do just that would be introduced. I fully appreciate the difficulty the passenger cap has put on Dublin Airport and it is important that there is a need to deal with the here-and-now problem that the airport faces along with planning for the future. As an island nation, we need to be internationally connected at all times.

I do, however, have concerns for Ireland's other airports. Dublin holds a dominant position in Irish aviation, accounting for 84% of all inbound and outbound flights. More needs to be done to support Shannon Airport, Cork Airport and Ireland West Airport, Knock. The proposed lifting of the cap at Dublin Airport presents the opportunity to make some positive changes insofar as those airports are concerned. Shannon Airport, in my own constituency of Clare, needs European hub connectivity. To illustrate this problem, there are nine direct flights each day from Dublin Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, but not a single one from Shannon Airport. This is one example alone. There are many more I can think of. This illustrates how balanced regional development simply does not exist in Irish aviation at this time. The Government has published many documents that speak to balanced regional development such as Project Ireland 2040 and the national planning framework, across many metrics, with regional development being balanced in terms of housing, education, healthcare provision, and many other realms. It is high time the national policy on aviation along with the Irish Aviation Authority introduce a new regional development clause when applications are submitted by airlines to operate new routes.

At the moment it gives a one dimensional consideration, whether it approves or disapproves. There should be an additional clause to look at the other airports in Ireland to sweat out those other national assets. We also need to know with some certainty what will happen with the regional airports forum. This is a vital fund for Shannon, Cork and Knock airports. As we prepare to host the Ryder Cup in 2027 in the mid-west, we will need every red cent we can get on our hands on. I get how the aviation sector works. I know that passengers in nearly all instances want to land in the capital city, but we cannot take our eyes off Ireland's other airports. They are national assets. They need to be sweated more and used more before we look at the Dublin solution. Some funding streams need to be clarified for those airports so they can plan into the future.

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