Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 250: To ask the Minister for Transport the process by which funding is to be made available for regional airports; the main proposals submitted for further development at Knock Airport; when evaluation of this will take place; if such evaluation is decided upon within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37043/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The capital expenditure grant scheme for the regional airports which my Department launched earlier this year involves a planning and implementation framework extending to 2010 and a budget of 65 million Euro out of the total of 100 million Euro for which Transport 21 provides up to 2015.

Ireland West Airport Knock, along with the other regional airports, submitted proposals for funding under the scheme. The submission included a number of proposals for safety and security enhancements, together with proposals for the expansion of the terminal building and the apron involving a total estimated cost of €45.9 million.

The grant applications from all six regional airports are being assessed and prioritized by my Department with the assistance of expert advice and I expect to be in a position to announce each airport's allocation under the scheme before the end of November.

In conjunction with the capital funding, it is also my intention to announce the 2006 allocation for each regional airport under a new scheme which provides for subvention of operational expenditure incurred by these airports in the provision of core airport services.