Joe Cooney (Clare, Fine Gael)
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309. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department will provide financial support to Shannon Airport Group to establish a route to Amsterdam under a Public Service Obligation. [15584/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that Shannon Airport Group made a submission to my Department seeking financial support to establish Public Service Obligation (PSO) air services to provide EU Hub Connectivity to airports such as Schiphol from Shannon Airport.

This request was considered in the context of the Mid-Term Review of the Regional Airports Programme. The potential impacts of supporting such a route on the Exchequer and also on similar routes operating on a commercial basis from other regional airports were carefully considered. Given the cost to the Exchequer and the fact that any Government intervention in this market could distort airlines competing on existing routes, a decision was taken not to support the imposition of a Government funded PSO from Shannon Airport. I understand that this decision was communicated by my Department to Shannon Airport in August 2024.

I also understand that one of the high-level outcomes of the mid-term review announced in July 2024 was to consider the potential for the development of an Exchequer funded Start-up Aid Scheme for airlines to support strategic route development to and from the regions, including Shannon. I trust that this initiative will be welcomed by the Deputy and can advise that my Department is preparing to engage with the market in relation to the potential for such a scheme.

Finally, the Deputy may wish to note that European Hub connectivity from Shannon Airport to onward international destinations is already provided by commercial services operating from Shannon to London Heathrow as well as the more recent commercial service operating to Paris Charles de Gaulle which commenced in September 2023.