David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I completely accept what Senator Humphreys said. He makes a good point that the directive which the Minister quoted suggests the regulatory authority should be independent. It is perfectly obvious that the Dublin Airport Authority is not independent as it has a financial stake in the game. As Fingal County Council makes enormous amounts of money out of the airport, clearly it is not independent, as it is supposed to be.On the second letter, can I just say it was perfectly clear that Fingal County Council was not competent and that it lacked the expertise and properly trained staff? It could not have been clearer that it ruled itself out and then there was political pressure and of course it came out and said that it was competent. That is rubbish, nobody accepts that and nobody believes it.