Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

This is an area the Minister needs to address. In the last Seanad, I was understudy to Senator Liam Fitzgerald on the public enterprise portfolio. During that time, the issue of initial offering was promoted by consultants and probably embraced by the Department. I said to the then Minister, who is now the Leader of the Seanad, that I did not consider a move from a public to private monopoly to be good. If there is anything worse than a public monopoly, it is a private monopoly. That was one of the first areas the current Minister addressed on taking office. He is correct to retain ownership of our airports which are a very fundamental part of our infrastructure. It would be similar to handing our roads over to private enterprise and allowing them to toll them as they wished. There would be an outcry.

There is a strong analogy with regard to the ports. They are part of our access to European markets and are publicly owned. It would be a retrograde step if Dublin and Shannon had sufficient volumes of business to go private. That would be wrong. The airports are fundamental to our economy. They form part of the veins of the trade and commerce of this country. Unless there is strong private competition, it would be wrong to hand them over to the private sector as monopolies and depend on regulators to control them. I applaud the Minister for the line he has taken with regard to this Bill.

I listened with interest to Senator Feargal Quinn, who held the interesting point of view that the Minister could operate the three airports as subsidiaries of a holding company. Why would we want to do that? Senator Quinn's argument was that they are in the same areas of activity. I do not think that is a good reason. Having them independent and autonomous, as the Minister has chosen to do, is preferable. It will allow for a focus on the activities of each of the three locations, particularly Cork and Shannon which have traffic volumes of around 2 million per annum. There is no reason we cannot grow these numbers. In continental Europe and England, where the governments have given autonomy to the airports, people have demonstrated innovation and commitment to increasing traffic and have devised deals to enhance and facilitate the flow of traffic. At a time when low-cost operators are making travel accessible to a wider range of people, it is important the three airports do independent deals which are profitable for them and for the development of their region. The Minister is taking the correct route to create separate companies reporting only to their shareholder, namely the Minister, and operating independently of each other while also in competition. Logistics will curtail the level of competition. Nevertheless, there will be some competition because people will choose where they wish to go based either on destination or on point of departure. On Saturday I travelled through Heathrow from the Continent. If I could avoid Heathrow or Dublin Airport I would, simply because they are very congested with people and traffic. If I can fly from Shannon or Cork Airports, I prefer to do so. It is right that we should have that option.

There are strong, entrenched vested interests at play in this debate. The Minister alluded to the leaking of a letter. I presume that is but a small part of the campaign to prevent the break-up of Aer Rianta. Monopolies do not easily concede ground. I have reservations regarding the board of Aer Rianta, which is operating a State enterprise, being proactive in the campaign to derail a State aspiration. Aer Rianta is wrong to do that and time will prove it wrong. I believe that in five or six years' time traffic flows in Shannon and Cork will have increased significantly. Traffic in Dublin will increase, regardless of what is done.

I concur fully with the Minister's line in retaining 100% public ownership of Dublin Airport, but my strong preference is that any future airport — it should not be merely another terminal if at all possible — should be operated separately from Dublin Airport and should be in private ownership or leased. Neither am I convinced that it should be in Dublin. It must be adjacent to Dublin, given the numbers of people who live there and that most of the traffic will emanate from there. I wonder whether Portlaoise, Naas or Baldonnel have been considered. Would they not constitute a suitable alternative for a privately operated airport which would compete strongly with Dublin Airport and ensure best practice at Dublin Airport? Best practice needs to apply at Dublin Airport but does not currently apply. Regardless of any steps by management, it is impossible to operate best practice where there is a public monopoly. I hope we will seek to achieve that. Only a short time ago, probably within the past decade, passenger numbers at Dublin Airport totalled only 5 million. I would hate to think that in 2020 they will have doubled from the current 16 million to 30 million. That would be retrograde.

This Bill is an important plank in the plans for public transport. In an island country, travel and trade demand that we have good access to markets and to other locations and that these operate efficiently and in accordance with best international practice. I commend the Minister for taking a very important step in that direction.