Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

He would be very welcome to the mid-west if he ever chooses to move there. Depending on next Friday's by-election results he may opt to do so.

That said, it is very welcome.
When the Government entered office, the situation at Shannon Airport was critical and matters could have gone either way. There was absolutely no direction on offer and what had obtained for almost a decade was decidedly lacklustre. Although there had been growth at the airport, it had been driven by the Celtic tiger and was not due to any focused business plan or determined strategy. It was more a result of luck than design. Until recently, the business cards of all senior and marketing managers at Shannon Airport who travelled abroad to negotiate with airlines listed their e-mail address as that of the Dublin Airport Authority. It was bizarre. All of the stakeholders in Shannon Airport - those involved in the tourism sector, local authorities, the chambers of commerce, etc. - wanted it to become independent and be free from that restriction. The Minister has responded to their concerns.
I accept that the strategies being pursued are risky. In that context, the best one can do is to try to ensure one minimises the risk by putting in places structures which incorporate checks and balances. Not only has the Minister given Shannon Airport its independence, he has also included Shannon Development in the equation. I agree with Senator Ned O'Sullivan that Shannon Development punched way above its weight for many years and was extremely successful. Unfortunately, in the past one or two decades the level of that success has waned significantly. It was bizarre - again, as a result of the Celtic tiger - that Shannon Development was able to offload property assets in order to keep the ship afloat. This was not how the State was supposed to be served by the company. The correct way to proceed is to bring the two together in the form of a single entity, while allowing them to maintain their separate identities. This will ensure one will not be obliged to feed the other. There is absolutely no point in having an airport that is losing money and obliging the development wing to subsidise it or vice versa.
Aviation policy as it affected the west was outlandish in the past. The then Government supported the development of airports in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork and Waterford, despite the fact that it was possible to travel from one end of the country to the other in four or five hours. That just did not make sense. Of course, the politicians who represent these counties will fight to have their airports subvented, but we are obliged to take a national, holistic approach to the matter. It was difficult when the subsidies for Galway Airport, in a county adjacent to the one in which I live, were removed, but this was the correct thing to do. What we now have is a clear and coherent policy on aviation development on the west coast. It is focused on the centre of excellence which Shannon Airport has the potential to become. There are so many related aviation industries based in the Shannon area and the Minister outlined the potential in this regard in his comprehensive contribution. Nine of the ten aircraft leasing companies have bases in Ireland. There remains massive potential to drive economic development in the west through aviation and the Shannon Development wing of the new entity will have specific responsibility for driving it.
As opposed to aviation development, there is a need to seek to attract aviation industries from abroad. For example, no one in Europe is exploiting the huge potential in the dismantling of end-of-life aircraft and selling the spare parts. Shannon Airport has huge capacity in that regard.
I have not referred to what I term the "aviation omnibus" element of the legislation, whereby issues such as people shining lasers at aircraft at night, other health and safety aspects, the Cape Town convention, etc., are dealt with. The Minister is correct to take the opportunity to deal with these matters in this legislation. I have no doubt that the issue of pensions will resolve itself. I welcome this comprehensive legislation and look forward to steering it through the House.