Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

It has had a financial impact in the airport because there is no continuity of military aircraft landing. It is impacting on the revenue of Aer Rianta. To say that is a significant earner which sustains Shannon is disingenuous for the simple reason that it gave only a temporary lift to the economy and Aer Rianta. It is unsustainable in the long term. What will sustain Aer Rianta and Shannon in the long term is much more promotion of the airport and increased aircraft traffic. One can hardly fly from Dublin to Shannon or from Shannon to Dublin. There are business interests, including companies like Dell, moving into Shannon. They cannot attract business from abroad, their clients cannot even fly into Shannon, and they are trying to get connecting flights from Shannon to Dublin. We should bring back Garrett FitzGerald and ask him to study the timetables. He might decide that they should be revised and positive action might then be taken in respect of Shannon.