asked the Minister for Transport if there is any cost to public funds from the operation of Eurocontrol and, if so, how such costs are calculated.
Written Answers. - Eurocontrol Costs.
501.
Ireland, as a member of Eurocontrol, contributes to the investment and operating budgets of the organisation and to a special budget for Ireland. The expenditure allocated to the operating budget relates to the cost of personnel, maintenance and operation of the central services of the organisation, etc. The expenditure allocated to the investment budget comprises the expenditure relating to the provision of new facilities such as control centres and radar stations. Expenditure under the special budgetary annex relates to work carried out exclusively for Ireland. There are similar annexes for other states.
Two factors are taken into account in determining the contributions to the operating budget, i.e. the value of the gross national products (GNP) of the member states and the value of the services rendered by the organisation to civil aircraft registered in their territories. The contributions of the member states to the investment budget are proportional to the respective values of their Gross National Products (GNP). Expenditure under the special budgetary annex for Ireland is 100 per cent chargeable to Ireland.