Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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269. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the state aid that has been granted to Knock Airport in the past ten years in tabular form; the EU state aid rules that are currently in place for airports such as Knock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13973/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Over the past ten years, Ireland West Airport has received more than €30m in capital and current (operational) supports from the State.The funding, which was  provided through a Regional Airports Programme, in line with EU rules on State aid, breaks down as follows: 

As the Deputy may be aware, a new Regional Airports Programme for the period 2021 to 2025 was published on 4 February.  The Programme has been designed in line with the EU’s General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).  Under the GBER, economic investment aid to airports is exempted from the normal EU notification and approval processes, subject to certain conditions.  For example, the State can provide investment aid of up to 75% to airports that handle less than 1 million annual passengers, like Ireland West.  Non-economic aid, such as fire services, air traffic control and security, is not subject to State aid rules.  Thresholds of support for non-economic projects and activities are determined at a national level.

In respect of 2021, my Department is currently reviewing this year’s applications for capital supports and I expect recommendations for funding to be submitted to me for consideration shortly.  Eligible airports will also be invited to apply for operational supports later in the year.

In addition to funding under the Regional Airports Programme, in recognition of the very difficult circumstances being faced by airports and taking account of the recommendations of the Taskforce for Aviation Recovery, a supplementary support scheme has been developed to help address liquidity issues at airports as a result of Covid-19. 

As part of the scheme, which was announced on 24 February, an estimated budget of €6m is being made available to regional airports like Ireland West under section 3.1 and 3.12 of the ‘Temporary Framework for State Aid Measures to Support the Economy in the Current Covid-19 Outbreak’.  An invitation to apply for funding under this scheme is expected to issue shortly to all eligible airports, including Ireland West.