Joe Conway (Independent)

I wish to speak for a few moments on the géarchéim that is attaching to Waterford Regional Airport. I have many misgivings following a recent meeting that took place between the Minister, local TDs, Ministers of State and the chief executive of Waterford City and County Council in Waterford. When we heard the Minister was meeting representatives and the chief executive, our hopes naturally spiralled high and we thought we were going to get good news. Alas, it was another damp squib. We were told the airport would have to produce yet another business case to promote the further development of the airport, which involves widening and extending the runway to accommodate passenger jets and mid-range jets, such as the A320 and Boeing 737, which are currently in use all over Europe.

The summer of 2007 was one of international flight in Waterford and showed what could be done. That summer, we had a successful service down to Malaga and Faro with a short take-off and landing British Aerospace 146 jet, which got in and out of Waterford gan aon stró ar bith. It was immensely popular with the people in the south east because they could avoid the hassle of going to Dublin or Cork and get on the plane almost directly and fly down to the south of Europe in a couple of hours.

This was a short-lived facility because it did not go any further. Since then, we have been relying on dribs, drabs and scraps, with the airport having several carriers servicing the UK that come and go. We also now have the R117, the search and rescue helicopter, and the airport gets occasional visits from the Air Corps and executive flights. That is the extent of the traffic in Waterford.

The south east is the only region in the country that does not have an operational passenger airport. I go back to the theme we have been debating over the past month, that of balanced regional development. How are we ever to aspire to this if the south east and Waterford specifically are left with an airport that is but a shadow of its former self? I appeal to the Minister of State to use his good offices on this. From the conversations I have had with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, in the past, I suspect he is well disposed towards Waterford and would love to see the airport operational. I sense from reading between the lines, however, that he is coming across an adverse wind in Cabinet and that is why the more robust business plan has been asked for. It is to silence the naysayers in Cabinet who are not in favour of giving Waterford the go-ahead because of possible competition reasons.

I am flying the flag for the local airport. It deserves to be given the funding. The land and the planning permission has been acquired and everything is in place. All we need is the few million. In contrast to the €200 million given to Cork, which I do not begrudge, one tenth of that would see us out through the gap and into the skies.