Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Will the Leader ask the Minister of Transport to attend the House? There is great concern in my home city regarding the Aer Rianta debt, which we were told would be entirely attributed to Dublin Airport. It is now suggested that €160 million of that debt will be payable by the Cork Airport Authority. That authority did not decide to spend €160 million on the new terminal. Aer Rianta did so, and it was understood this was a State debt to be dealt with appropriately. If Cork Airport is landed with a debt of €160 million, it will probably take ten years to pay it off. My rough, back-of-an-envelope calculation is that it could mean a levy of €15 per individual passenger for ten years. That could seriously threaten the viability of Cork Airport and would definitely make it less attractive. A promise was given that this would not happen. I suspect the Leader was never too happy about the break-up of Aer Rianta.