Denis Landy (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for outlining his views on the White Paper. I apologise for not being present earlier, but I had to attend another meeting, although I watched and listened to some of his contribution on a monitor. Will he elaborate on the process to establish the Shannon hub? It was announced earlier that Shannon Airport had achieved independence from the DAA. Will that have a bearing on the hub? With regard to the request made to the European Union, is Ireland in competition to provide such a hub? Is funding available from the Union to establish it? If it is established, it will be a great achievement for Ireland in the context of our punching above our weight in the provision of ODA.