Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Transport if the final deal on an open skies regime has been finalised; if not, the nature of the difficulty in completing this agreement; the options for Ireland in the event that an open skies regime between the US and the EU is not achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9077/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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EU negotiations with the US about a wide-ranging aviation agreement finished on 18 November 2005, at which time the text of a draft EU-US air transport agreement was settled.

The only outstanding issue now is the outcome of the US's moves to amend its ownership and control rules so that EU carriers, for example, could have much greater control over the commercial activities of US airlines that they invest in. The US began its public consultation process at the beginning of November 2005, with all comments to be received by it in early January 2006. The US is currently considering those comments and I understand that its timetable is now to conclude its considerations by the end of March, and to publish its comments and its final rule on ownership and control in early April 2006.

The March Transport Council will receive the latest information on this subject from the European Commission, but may not be in a position to make a final decision on the EU-US agreement without sight of the final US ownership and control rule. It is envisaged that the Transport Council in early June will be in a position to take a decision on the EU-US agreement, with a view to it coming into effect on schedule in November 2006.

I would be extremely disappointed if the EU-US agreement is not signed this year as planned, in view of the enormous benefits that open skies will bring to Irish aviation and to Irish business and tourism. In that event Ireland would re-examine options for direct bilateral arrangements with the US.