Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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757. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider establishing a PSO route for air services between Cork Airport and Dublin Airport in view of the need for air connectivity between the country's two largest cities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32185/14]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The criteria that must be applied when establishing a Public Service Obligations (PSO) air services route between two airports is set out in Article 16 of EC Regulation 1008/2008. In particular, the availability of other modes of transport serving the route, such as rail and road, with a travel time of less than 3 hours along with sufficient frequencies and suitable times in the case of rail, must be examined when determining the suitability of establishing such PSO supports. As Cork and Dublin are linked by both motorway and rail, with journey times of less than the 3 hours criteria, it is not possible to impose a PSO on the route.