Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 266: To ask the Minister for Transport the critical conditions that need to be met to establish readiness to vest three airports; the way the airports currently measure against these benchmarks; and if the airports outlined have a critical path and a timeframe to achieve them. [24163/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The State Airports Act, 2004 provides the framework for the establishment of Shannon and Cork as independent airports. Under the Act, both the Minister for Finance and I will have to be satisfied as to the state of operational and financial readiness of the three airports before any vesting of assets can take place.

The actual timing of airport restructuring will continue to depend on the creation of the appropriate conditions that will ensure the financial sustainability of each State Airport. I would expect that these conditions would include presentation of forecasts of profitable operations and necessary capacity to finance investment at autonomous airports. The airports will require coordinated strategies for the achievement of operational and financial readiness and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has a key role to play in finalizing the financial framework and coordinating business plans that would enable airport separation to take place. I will be considering the complex issues involved in the coming months.