Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise my very serious concerns about the lifting of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport without parallel measures to divert non-core traffic and develop new routes into regional airports and in particular into Shannon Airport. Dublin now accounts for the overwhelming majority of passenger traffic into the country. In 2025, Dublin handled 83% of all flights into the country in quarters 1, 2 and 3. We do not have the final statistics in quarter 4 yet. Some 8% went to Cork and only 5% went to Shannon. Shannon Airport is underutilised by approximately 2.5 million passengers per annum so we have capacity to handle a further 2.5 million passengers. Dublin, already at an estimated 36 million passengers, wants more.

This is not simply about tourism route development. This is about regional economic imbalances. How can we expect our young start-ups in Limerick and the mid-west, and our fine businesses in the mid-west, to develop, expand and to reach their potential when we do not offer them daily business connectivity into our EU marketplace? We are members of the EU. Companies come to this country and invest in this country because of our EU membership. Yet, for the businesses in Limerick there is no daily connectivity into our EU marketplace. That is a disgrace. It means that the hands are tied behind the backs of the businesses in the mid-west. Does the Government expect the entirety of the population of the mid-west to up and move to Dublin to get a job or to develop a business? We absolutely need a debate on this matter and I would like to ask the Minister for enterprise to come into this Chamber and to tell us what measures he can take to ensure that businesses in the mid-west and in the regions in Ireland are given the same opportunity to develop, thrive and succeed that businesses in the east are given.