Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 872: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will be honouring the commitment made by his predecessor, Deputy Brennan, that Cork and Shannon airports will not begin independent operations from Aer Rianta-Dublin Airport Authority burdened with debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1660/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The new Shannon and Cork Airport authorities were incorporated in September 2004. In line with the framework provided by the State Airports Act 2004, the two new authorities will own and operate the airports when sufficient distributable reserves are available to the Dublin Airport Authority to transfer the relevant airport assets to them. Under the 2004 Act, the Ministers for Transport and Finance must be satisfied about the authorities' state of operational and financial readiness before the assets of the airports can be vested in them. The formulation of comprehensive business plans will be a key aspect of achieving operational and financial readiness. The capital structures of each of the State airports is subject to determining the optimum mechanisms for allocating airport assets among the three airports, having regard to the capital maintenance rules and other provisions of the Companies Acts. The position on the transfer of assets to the Cork Airport Authority was set out during the passing of the State Airports Act 2004. The tightness of the Dublin Airport Authority's distributable reserves meant that a phased approach to restructuring was outlined at the time. The option of the negotiation of a finance lease covering a portion of Cork Airport's assets, to facilitate the earlier establishment of that airport as a fully independent airport, was also mentioned. I assure the Deputy that Cork Airport's ability to operate on a completely commercial basis will be fully assessed as part of the business planning process and will be factored into the decisions made.