Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. I am absolutely aware of the importance of regional airports to national economic development and also, more particularly, to regional economic development. I have an appreciation of the role the airport has played not only in tourism in the area but also for the business community. The Senator, in his own contribution, named some of the companies that make great use of it.

On the specific question the Senator put to me on the status of the proposed extension to the runway and any commitment from my Department on that, I confirm to the Senator that €405,000 has been approved under the capital expenditure scheme that I outlined earlier, the CAPEX programme, for the purchase of land for that. The reason that authorisation was made was in appreciation of some of the points the Senator was making.

Having regard to the limitations of the scheme and broader European Union law, I am not able to invest in some of the infrastructure works which are required. However, this is the reason local authorities and local businesses in the area are working to find funding. On the Senator's particular comment regarding my support for the runway, as I have stated, my Department has provided €400,000 for the land purchase for the runway. For the Senator's efforts, if one looks at operational expenditure in 2014 alone and the amount of funding that has been made available for that, over €1 million was made available to Waterford Airport to meet the needs in that area. In total, since 2011, €4.6 million has been made available to Waterford for operational expenditure. That is funding it needed and for which it met the criteria. Where possible we provided support for all that work and the work being advanced. I am aware of the challenges being faced now given the loss of Flybe and Stobart. However, I do know that the board are now responding to that to try to find a replacement service.