Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Another point made here tonight reflects a perception that Dublin Airport Authority holds sizeable assets worth large sums of money. That is not true. All of those assets must be cashed in but they will not go near providing for the separation of Cork and Shannon, the pension issues and the development of Dublin Airport. There are few of them. The Great Southern Hotels group is being sold but there is a heavy debt attached to that. The only other major asset is the stand at Birmingham; the one at Frankfurt is not equivalent to that. They are good assets to cash in but they are also a serious part of the income which will be lost in order to develop the airports.

The project in Cork comprises not only the new terminal building but the multi-storey car park, surface level car parks, new fire stations, new internal road systems and the upgrading or replacement of all utility services such as water, gas and electricity. When completed the new Cork Airport will have a passenger capacity of over 3 million with a facility to expand to 5 million. It is important that the debate about Cork's future does not obscure this major development for the airport.