Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have no intention of requiring this Minister, or any future Minister, to bring any direction before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. Laying the letter before the Houses in the Oireachtas Library would be sufficient. The amendment could be revised before Report Stage to exclude anything that relates to airport or national security. It would send out a good message. It is not my intention that any Minister would have to come in with any direction given to the Shannon group and explain it to a committee, but it is important that it be published and that the structure and process for doing so is clear. Placing it in the Oireachtas Library would be sufficient.

An amendment could be tabled on Report Stage to exclude security, not just at Shannon but also national security. Some of our international friends have used Shannon Airport for the movement of military into Iraq and Afghanistan. That may happen again in the future. This affects international security too. Any future government might deem it necessary to allow Shannon to be used for that type of operation. I will be interested to hear the Minister’s remarks on this point.