asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he is now in a position to authorise the construction of the runways and airport buildings at Ballygarvan, in order to provide the facilities of modern air transport near Cork City which has a population of 120,000, and to give scope for the employment of the numerous workers now being laid off weekly from the hydro-electric schemes at Inniscara and Carrigdrohid.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cork Airport Construction Work.
The question of providing an airport near Cork City is still under consideration and I am not yet in a position to make any announcement on the subject. The Deputy must realise, however, that, even if it were decided to provide an airport at the site mentioned, there could be no question of giving immediate employment as technical plans and other essential preliminaries would first have to be finalised.