Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 528: To ask the Minister for Transport the position on the commitment to have Cork Airport established independently free of debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15383/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The State Airports Act 2004 provides a framework that will allow for an orderly approach to the distribution of the assets of Shannon and Cork Airports in conformity with the capital maintenance provisions of the Companies Act.

Before any assets can transfer to either Shannon or Cork Airport Authority, both the Minister for Finance and I will have to be satisfied as to the financial and operational readiness of the airport authorities. Under the Act each airport authority is required to prepare a comprehensive business plan and obtain the Minister's approval for these plans prior to the transfer of assets.

At present, Cork Airport Authority in conjunction with the Dublin Airport Authority and financial advisers is in the process of developing its business plan and appropriate financing proposals for the new Cork Airport development projects in line with the requirements of the Act, the provisions of the Companies Acts and the commercial and financial viability realities of the Dublin Airport Authority and the Cork Airport Authority.

I await the outcome of this work because of its importance to facilitating the development of a dynamic, independent and financially sustainable Cork Airport. It is important that the debate about Cork Airport's debt does not obscure these major development projects, which are nearing completion at Cork Airport. These projects will effectively deliver a new landside airport and represent the first major upgrading of all facilities since the airport was built in the late 1950s. When completed, the new Cork Airport will have a passenger capacity of 3 million people with the facility to expand to 5 million, when needed. Such facilities will greatly benefit the airport's users but they will have to be funded. In this regard Cork's future as an independent airport will have to take account of a realistic assessment of what is commercially feasible, including the capacity of the airport to contribute to its capital investment programme. The Government objective of airport restructuring under the State Airport Act 2004 must be achieved in a manner that underpins the financial and commercial sustainability of all three State airports.