John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, who is almost becoming a permanent fixture.

I raise the issue of the proposed development of Cork Airport which has been an ongoing saga for several years. The airport is one of the success stories of the south-west region. There is no doubt as to its importance to it. In recent years it has increased its passenger turnover which is already up by 10% this year. In effect, it is bursting at the seams and the story is entirely positive. People wish to come to the area. There is a groundswell of support from the public, the local business community as well as the international community to have the airport developed.

The airport is operated by a very committed staff and management. It is very well managed. This has been recognised, both nationally and internationally. A new home based airline, Jet Magic, has been launched recently and will announce further new routes from the airport tomorrow. This will be followed by announcements by British Midland and a new Spanish airline which intends to use the airport. The rate of growth in the Cork region is strongly reflected in the use of the airport. A recent economic impact study by UCC clearly showed the benefit to it, both financially and socially. It is a well known rule of thumb in the aviation industry that each 1,000 passengers results in one direct job and one-and-a-half indirect jobs to the region concerned.