Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 33: To ask the Minister for Transport [b] the discussions he has had with the Department of Finance regarding the selling off of the Dublin Airport Authority, and if he would make a statement on the matter. [/b] [27258/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I have not had any discussions with the Minister for Finance with regard to selling off any of the assets of the Dublin Airport Authority, nor do I have any plans in that regard. As an island nation, with a peripheral location, our access infrastructure is of vital strategic importance to our economy. Our airports have a critical role in supporting economic development by facilitating trade, tourism and inward investment. Their operation as State agencies, albeit operating to a commercial mandate, ensures that investment decisions take account of the wider national interest in a way that could not readily be guaranteed were they under private ownership. Any future consideration of the possible privatisation or part-privatisation of these assets would have to include the question of whether it would be possible to design a regulatory framework that could be effective in protecting the wider national interest.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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The last part of the reply seems to indicate that the Minister would consider selling off the Dublin Airport Authority given certain guarantees on regulation. An article by Pat Leahy in The Sunday Business Post dated 13 June states that proposals for a broad asset sale are being drawn up in the Department of Finance without being discussed by the relevant Ministers. Is the Minister aware of any such report or has he read the article? If he has, what are his views on it? Serious issues arise about the Dublin Airport Authority, its monopoly and the fact that it has three airports under its wing. It has been suggested that they ought to be independent of the DAA. I would appreciate the Minister's answer to those questions, especially whether he is aware of the report, has read it or if he has been consulted on it.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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My answer to those questions is the same as the reply I outlined. I have not had any discussions on selling off State assets, especially not the Dublin Airport Authority. I do not have any plans to have any such discussions. I have not read the article to which the Deputy referred and I am not aware of it. The reference in the reply to future consideration was merely information for the Deputy. He should not read anything at all into it. I am not in favour of selling off an important State asset such as the Dublin Airport Authority. There are strategic national reasons why we should own such strategic infrastructure. A privatised Dublin Airport, for instance, would have little incentive to pre-fund runway or terminal capacity or to provide a range of services to meet the needs of prospective rather than existing users, unless as I said, mechanisms were built into the regulatory framework that are not there at the moment. We should learn lessons from past events such as the sale of all of Eircom's then assets which left us in a poor position to implement State and Government policy. I would be very reluctant to go down that road with airports. I do not think it would be a good idea.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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One of the criticisms parties such as Ryanair make of the DAA is that it is not competitive enough and that its price structure is not competitive enough. Issues arise also about terminal 2 which will now be run by the DAA. I accept that is part of a later question on a lack of competition. A significant number of international airlines that work out of Dublin have not as yet agreed to move into terminal 2. Serious questions arise about the DAA's monopoly. It is losing money hand over fist and it is not competitive. There ought to be some room for breaking up the company in certain respects. Does the Minister have a view on the breaking up of the company? Even if the company is retained in State ownership there could be different parts with separate accountability from the DAA.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not accept propaganda by Ryanair on the matter. Any objective assessment of the Dublin Airport Authority clearly indicates that the airport charges there are in accordance with the EU average and probably a little bit below that. The attitude of a private firm such as Ryanair is precisely why I would not like to go down the route of having a privatised Dublin Airport. As far as I can see the private sector would only be interested in profit. It would not be interested in the good name of Ireland and the impression that might be given to first-time visitors to this country. The airport is the first place they see in the country. That would not enter into the reckoning for a private sector company. It would be a case of how it could maximise the profits from the asset.

Reference has been made to Dublin Airport being a monopoly. There is only has one airport in Dublin. It does not make much sense to think one can have three or four operators there. We tried to ensure that the terminals would operate as separate entities but that was not successful. We now have to depend on the regulation of the Commission for Aviation Regulation to try to ensure the situation is competitive. In fairness to the Dublin Airport Authority, it has produced a profit for the State on a regular basis. The details are provided in reply to a later question which I will not anticipate. The DAA has served the State well.

On the question of whether there should be one company or three companies, that is due for review in 2011.