Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I rise today to also call for a debate on aviation policy. I was in Shannon Airport recently. Senator Cummins referred to Waterford Airport but I will refer to Shannon. I was in the airport on Monday at the launch of the sunflower campaign for people with hidden disabilities. In relation to the debate on lifting the cap at Dublin Airport, it is really important that regional airports do not get left behind.

Shannon Airport is on my doorstep. At Dublin Airport there is a 32 million passenger cap. It will be breached this year by over a million. Recently, the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, recently visited Shannon Airport and currently approximately 2 million passengers use Shannon Airport per year. It can accommodate up to 5 million passengers and with a slight adjustment to the current terminal, it could accommodate up to 10 million. There is scope within the regional airports. I know some of the airline companies said people want to fly out of Dublin but I believe if they were given a choice they would use the regional airports.

I am firmly opposed to the lifting of the cap at Dublin Airport. I believe we need to invest in and look after our regional airports. We have so many people in the regions who work with the different companies that operate out of Shannon Airport and the other regional airports. There needs to be a debate as soon as possible, perhaps on our return after the mid-term break.

The other issue I raise is that recently we saw a lot of people subject to abuse on social media from anonymous accounts. I believe ID should be mandatory to use social media and if people are setting up a social media account on Twitter, Facebook or any of the social media platforms, they should have to provide a form of ID to show that it is an authentic account and they are a real person.