Dáil debates
Tuesday, 15 December 2020
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Regional Airports
8:35 pm
Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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As the Minister of State is aware in 2011, the public service obligation, PSO, was withdrawn from the Sligo-Dublin route, which led to the end of commercial flights. However, since then Sligo Airport has focused on four services: search and rescue; medevac, which is medical evacuation for critically ill patients to centres of medical excellence and, God knows, we have few of those in the west; out-of-hours urgent operations and a facility for refuelling; and the maintenance of a 24-hour air traffic control service to facilitate all those. The Minister of State will agree that these are crucial services. The operational area for these services is Clifden to Belfast, and Sligo is ideally situated in that it is coastal and in the middle of this area. For the past three years, Sligo has been the largest search and rescue base in Ireland.
It provides 24-7 air traffic control and ground services, backed up by a team of 47 experienced, dedicated and capable staff, five full-time, 28 in search and rescue and four in aircraft maintenance. Given the essential nature of this service, it is astonishing that I or any other Deputy would need to stand up in this House and say this service will not survive in a safe and sustainable way next year or the following year because the airport has been starved of funding. Sligo Airport achieved the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, certification as an air navigation service provider in 2011, and aerodrome certification in 2017. To maintain these essential capabilities, Sligo, which is small by comparison with other airports, needs a small investment of €500,000 to carry out these essential works, which are mandated by the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, so that it can continue to provide these services.
The good news is that the airport itself will commit €200,000 to the works and it is looking for €300,000 from Government, plus €100,000 per annum to maintain services for the following three years. The IAA has insisted on the runway reconfiguration being completed by 28 January 2021 or otherwise it will issue a safety directive.
Nobody is crying wolf here. This is a matter of extreme urgency and there is no kicking the can down the road. The airport is confident that these works can be completed as all permissions are in place and suppliers have been identified. It is important to note that a small airport with no passenger traffic and no revenue streams but which supplies essential services had been managed in such a prudent way that it can contribute 40% of the cost of the essential works. If the Minister of State does not work with Sligo Airport and provide the minimal funding required, it will be a slap in the face for the people of the region and the abdication of Government responsibility to ensure search and rescue can continue.
Sligo Airport is not looking for regional status. It just needs minimal funding to maintain its status.
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to speak about Sligo Airport. As she will be aware, Sligo Airport is a private company based in Strandhill. As well as general aviation services, the airport operates as a Coast Guard search and rescue base under a commercial contract with CHC Ireland. The Department of Transport contracts for the delivery of the search and rescue service to CHC Ireland, which uses Sligo Airport as a base to deliver part of this service. The arrangements for this are a matter between CHC and Sligo Airport and do not involve the Department of Transport. As such, the airport does not receive funding from the Department in respect of the search and rescue service.
It has been almost a decade since Sligo Airport was eligible for Exchequer funding. Before 2011, when the airport operated scheduled services, it received State support through the Government's regional airports programme and a PSO air service between Sligo and Dublin.
Policy on regional airports has always been focused on optimising conditions for connectivity. As a result, Exchequer funding is contingent on airports operating scheduled passenger services as part of that programme. In the past, in the absence of high-quality road and rail infrastructure and services, Ireland's smallest airports had a more pronounced role in national connectivity. However, following the substantial development of the national road network, particularly the completion of the interurban motorways from 2009 onwards, Government policy on supporting regional airports has become more focused on facilitating international access to the regions.
In light of this and the need to maximise scarce resources following the financial crisis of 2008, the Department completed a value-for-money review on supports for regional airports in 2010. The review made certain recommendations in respect of these supports, which were duly incorporated into the design of subsequent regional airport programmes.
The main outcome of the review was the withdrawal of funding for PSO services between Dublin and the airports at Galway and Sligo. As a result, Sligo Airport no longer met the criteria for inclusion in the programme and all Exchequer funding to the airport ceased after 2011. Without passenger flights or plans to develop passenger flights, Sligo Airport's operations still fail to meet the connectivity objective associated with Government policy on funding of regional airports.
I expect to publish a new regional airports programme for the period 2021 to 2025 in the coming weeks and Government has provided €21.3 million for this programme in budget 2021. The new programme will focus Exchequer funding on our smaller regional airports with scheduled passenger air services and annual passengers of less than 1 million passengers. This programme will help eligible airports remain viable as they begin to plan for recovery and transition away from the devastation of Covid-19. The programme will also support the PSO air services between Kerry and Dublin, and Donegal and Dublin.
As policy will continue to target support at regional airports that can facilitate international connectivity, Sligo Airport will remain ineligible for funding under the new programme.
Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I am gutted by what the Minister of State said. She said it all. It has been a decade since the airport received any Government funding. She went on to say that funding of airports in contingent on their providing passenger services. Let us consider another airport. Waterford Airport has not had passenger services since June 2016. Let me say, good luck to Waterford Airport; it needs the money to provide its services and it has got it. That is what balanced regional development is - a balance across the regions.
In the time since Sligo Airport last received funding, Waterford Airport has received almost €5 million. In the past, the Tánaiste has said that he absolutely supports the decision of Government to grant €5 million to Waterford Airport. It needs to be borne in mind that Waterford Airport must stay open because it is a Coast Guard base.
A couple of years ago, we were looking at moving it to Cork, but it was not viable. Sligo Airport, therefore, has search and rescue facilities. I again wish Waterford Airport well, as it provides essential services, but so does Sligo Airport in the north-west. If it is starved of funds, then that service will not be there. We will not have search and rescue or medical evacuation for critically ill patients who require it. The Minister of State may be dealing with a plan for regional airports, but if Sligo Airport is neglected and if she does not look at maintaining the services there, that will be a slap in the face for the people of the region. She will be stating, in effect, that the region from Clifden, in her county of Galway, to Belfast does not deserve a search and rescue operation.
8:45 pm
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I hear what the Deputy said. The Government fully recognises and acknowledges the contribution Sligo Airport makes to the search and rescue service. However, CHC Ireland, as the operator, is fully responsible for agreeing operational arrangements with all the airports involved in the delivery of the search and rescue service, including Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo. In that context, neither the Department nor the Coast Guard have contractual arrangements with the airports concerned. CHC Ireland uses the facilities provided by Sligo Airport to provide part of the service, and the arrangements in that regard are a matter for CHC Ireland and the airport.
That aside, I advise that the Coast Guard, having been made aware of the potential challenges facing Sligo Airport, has requested CHC Ireland to monitor the situation and to alert it if the evolving situation creates issues for service delivery. I also assure the Deputy that the Coast Guard will continue to assess the situation in conjunction with CHC Ireland and I will consider matters again if the situation changes. Regarding the question of funding, as I advised her, I hope to publish a new regional airports programme for the period from 2021 to 2025 by the end of this year. As policy will continue to target support for regional airports which can facilitate international connectivity, however, Sligo Airport will remain ineligible for funding under the new programme.