Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

This will have a bearing on the preparation of the plans. As the Minister is aware, Aer Rianta currently pays substantial amounts of money through the county council for all the rates on Shannon Airport properties. In view of the fact that Shannon will now be a State airport and that most of the lands are in the ownership of the Department, will it now be exempt from rates, as it was before the new arrangements were introduced? What effect will that have on the preparation of plans? Can the new board of Shannon Airport say that it will not have to pay a couple of million euro in property rates to Clare County Council because it will be a State airport? I wish to clarify this because there is a substantial amount of money involved which represents a major source of revenue for the county council. There is some concern in Shannon that the airport will be faced with a considerable bill unless it reverts to its original position. The Minister may not be in a position to deal with this now but perhaps he will explain the position at some stage.