John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 125: To ask the Minister for Transport if the public service obligation contract arrangements for Kerry Airport will be expedited given the cancelling of the PSO contract that was due to run to July 2011 by a company (details supplied) and the notice that 20 staff at the airport are facing redundancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3119/11]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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All the current Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts for services linking Dublin Airport with the regional airports at Derry, Donegal, Sligo, Ireland West Airport Knock, Galway and Kerry Airports commenced on 22 July 2008 and are due to expire on 21 July 2011. The Value for Money (VFM) Review of Exchequer Expenditure on the regional airports programme has been considered by Government and was published on 12 January last.

Having considered the conclusions and recommendations of the Review, the Government has agreed to support the continuation of a Public Service Obligation (PSO) route between Donegal and Dublin and between Kerry and Dublin. The necessary work will now commence involving the European Commission for the PSOs to Kerry and Donegal. Once approved, specifications for the services will be settled and arrangements will be put in place for a tender competition in respect of these two routes. In line with EU rules it is anticipated that this process will take up to 6 months.