Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, and the Bill. One of the most important aspects of the legislation is that it deals with Shannon Airport which, for whatever reason, was downgraded by successive Governments. When I was young, there were two main airports in the country. If one was flying transatlantic, one travelled via Shannon Airport. Likewise, if one was flying to England or elsewhere in Europe, one passed through Dublin Airport. In the past five years there was an alarming drop of 61% in the number of passengers flying into Shannon Airport. In the same period, the number flying into Dublin only fell by 19%. I accept that the withdrawal of the Heathrow Airport routes and the ending of the transatlantic stopover had an effect in this regard. Since the separation of the State airports into different entities, the Shannon Group has gained focus and there was an increase of 8% in numbers coming through Shannon Airport during the past year. It is welcome that the Heathrow Airport service has been reinstated and that Ryanair is operating out of the airport. There are also new transatlantic routes serviced by US carriers to Chicago and Philadelphia. In addition, Aer Lingus and Ryanair are offering flights from Shannon Airport to continental Europe. These are all welcome developments.

Shannon Airport is a catalyst for the mid-west. Let us consider the figures for the Shannon free zone which is divided into free zone east and free zone west. Shannon Development owns 50% of the free zone west and 10% of free zone east. Over 7,700 people are employed by 100 companies which operate in these zones and which generate over €600 million annually in the local economy. They make €3 billion in sales each year, some 90% of which are in the export market. The Bill before the House will ensure the Shannon Group's operations will be streamlined. This will be to the benefit of the mid-west which has been ignored because everything has been focused towards the capital city, Dublin. It is important that employment be retained in the mid-west.

There are approximately 40 companies in the Shannon Free Zone, one-third of which are related to the aviation industry. Of the top 12 companies supplying aeroplanes, 11 operate out of Ireland currently. Therefore, it is important that this continues under the Cape Town convention and that this Bill puts this into practice to continue to support our economy.
Besides the companies in the free zone, Shannon Development has 54 businesses in the technological area across the region. The Minister mentioned Shannon Heritage, which will remain a separate company that will be concerned with visitor attractions and the like. Kilrush Creek Marina Limited is responsible for the promotion of the Kilrush marina. We also have the national technological park in Limerick, which is tied in with the University of Limerick through Enterprise Ireland and the private sector. Together, these are researching companies for the area.
The most damning issue for the Shannon Group was the report issued by Booz & Company, which stated:

The airport lacks sufficient integration with the surrounding industrial land bank, with current management having no function in developing alternative ventures within a mixed aero-industrial complex. On balance, and unless there is a change in strategic direction, we think there is good reason to believe that Shannon Airport will continue to require subsidies from the DAA, and that traffic will not recover to previous levels, at least in the short run.

This report was damning and the Minister and the Department acted on this when the report came through. We have seen what has happened. Shannon Airport has been separated from the DAA and we have already seen an increase in numbers because the Shannon Group has become more focused as a result.
I was amazed when I heard this Bill dealt with the issue of dazzling, in section 43. The Minister stated in his speech that there were 281 reports of lasers being shone at Irish aircraft in the past year and that 156 of these happened in Irish airspace. I know we cannot stop people doing this, but if we have penalties in place, we may be able to deter them.
I welcome the fact that the relevant bodies will deal with the pensions issue in the Labour Court. There will be significant discussion on this on Committee Stage, but it is important that the workers are taken care of in respect of their pension rights, through this Bill and through whatever agreement is made in the Labour Court.
I commend the Bill to the House and support the Minister on it. I believe it will help the mid-west become vibrant again and will support rural Ireland. There is much talk about development in rural Ireland, and Shannon Airport supports this. Rural Ireland is important in the context of employment, education and visitors, particularly in regard to helping the economy grow again. I thank the Minister for bringing the Bill to the House and offer our support for it.