Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress that has been made on the establishment of the International Aviation Services Centre at Shannon; when he expects to see this centre operational; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11930/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Shannon Airport was separated from the Dublin Airport Authority on 31 December last and the assets and business of the airport were transferred from the DAA to the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA). My Department is working with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on the Heads of the new Bill to provide for the merger of the airport with a restructured Shannon Development in a new, commercial, State-owned entity and this legislation will be advanced during the first half of this year. When the Heads of the Bill are ready, they will be referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport for their consideration prior to drafting. It is my hope, subject to enactment of the Bill, that the new Shannon entity could be established mid-year although I appreciate that this will be challenging. It will then be a matter for the new entity to proceed with the development and expansion of the aviation services centre in Shannon.

In January, I appointed Rose Hynes as Chairman of the SAA and in that context I expect her to take on the role of Chairman designate for the NewCo which is in the process of being established. More recently, I have made four further appointments to the board of the SAA, including two employee representatives nominated by ICTU. A process to recruit a Chief Executive for the Shannon Airport Authority and the new Shannon entity (NewCo) is also currently under way. In addition, my colleague, Minister Bruton and I, have written to the Chairmen of the SAA and Shannon Development requesting that they and their management teams work closely together over the coming months to ensure an orderly transition to the establishment of NewCo. In this regard also, Minister Bruton appointed Ms Hynes and one other SAA board member to the board of Shannon Development and it is likely that one further common appointment may be made to the boards of the SAA and Shannon Development to maximise synergies between the two ahead of the merger.