Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I did not want to be seen to reprimand Senator Mac Lochlainn.Last week, Senator Mac Lochlainn and I, along with other elected representatives from our party, met the board of City of Derry Airport. Senator Mac Lochlainn has outlined the key strategic benefit it brings to the broader north-west region, not least in terms of its immediate link to the Wild Atlantic Way and everything that this can potentially offer to that part of the country.

Do the Minister of State and the Department recognise the key strategic economic benefit of the City of Derry Airport as an asset? Would he and the Minister, Deputy Ross, be prepared to meet the board of the airport - at its request - to discuss these issues? It is an exciting time for the airport, given the investment from the Executive of £7 million to progress issues relating to route development and other infrastructural issues. We could do much more, however. As Senator Mac Lochlainn said, with 40% of the airport’s footfall coming from Donegal, it is past time the Government appreciated the significant asset this city airport represents and brought about the necessary investment to ensure that it gets over the line in the context of the fantastic work it is doing.