Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the criteria used to remove the public service obligation subsidy from the Derry to Dublin air route in view of the fact that there is neither a motorway nor a direct rail line connecting Derry, the fourth largest city on the island and gateway to the north west, to Dublin. [10755/11]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the decision to reduce to two the number of routes covered by PSO air services was taken by the previous Government in line with the Value for Money Review of Exchequer Expenditure on the Regional Airports Programme. This Review took account of a number of factors including the performance of the services, the requirement to make best use of scarce Exchequer resources as well as improvements in alternative transport modes and changes in EU legislation covering PSO services.