asked the Minister for Finance if the Central Development Committee have given him an estimate of the cost of providing a small air strip on Inishbofin, Connemara, County Galway, to facilitate the extension of the Aran Island air service to include Inishbofin, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Inishbofin (Galway) Air Service.
89.
Between 1978 and 1980 the Secretariat of the Central Development Committee and the Galway County Development Team examined the possibility of providing an air service to Inishbofin. Two sites suitable for air strips were identified and in 1980 an engineering report estimated the cost of providing an airstrip at either £526,000 or £600,000, depending on the site chosen. The examination concluded that expenditure at this level could not be justified and that, in any event, there was almost no prospect of a viable air service being established even if an airstrip were constructed. I do not believe that any further statement is called for.