I am glad to have the opportunity of raising this matter this evening. Deputy Carey, who is probably making his way from Shannon to here at present, and Deputy O'Malley have requested me to give them some of my time and what I propose to do is allow a portion of my time to be divided equally between Deputies Carey and O'Malley.
Adjournment Debate. - Trans-Atlantic Charter Flights to Knock.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
This matter was brought to my attention through a report which appeared in tonight's edition of the Evening Herald which quoted the Minister for the Environment, apparently speaking on a programme entitled “Muintir Mhaigh Eo” in his native Castlebar, as saying that a major boost for Knock Airport would be provided shortly and that the Government are expected to allow direct trans-Atlantic charter flights to land at Knock Airport. It is expected that these flights which are to begin in July will carry thousands of Catholic pilgrims directly into the Mayo airport, by-passing Shannon Airport in the process.
I have no difficulty with pilgrims being flown directly into Knock Airport from the other side of the Atlantic but I am concerned at the serious effects this could have for Shannon Airport and I would like the Minister to clarify a number of points for me. It has been part of the transport policy of successive Governments to ensure that Shannon Airport, which was established out of necessity originally, be seen in a favourable light. Since its establishment Shannon Airport has been the first stop for trans-Atlantic flights. Whatever goodwill the Government may have towards Knock Airport and whatever about the future of that airport we all have to be conscious in whatever decisions we make of the consequences those decisions may have for Shannon Airport. If the Government go ahead with this decision they will be creating a very dangerous precedent. It is understandable that they would wish to assist an airport in the west and good luck to that airport but if the Government have decided to take this course of action I believe that they have not taken into account the effects it would have on Shannon Airport.
The reality is that Shannon Airport has and will continue to be the linchpin of development in the mid-west region and indeed far beyond, in fact, in a region stretching from County Galway, if not County Mayo, to south Kerry and west Cork. The importance of Shannon Airport does not relate only to the Shannon free zone but also to tourism. From the figures available it appears that 80 per cent of American tourists disembark at Shannon Airport and it is important that this would continue to be the case. Down through the years we have established a different regime in regard to incoming flights, in other words, normally people would fly to a capital of a country and then having spent some days in the capital city would branch out to see the rest of the country but in our case tourists coming across the Atlantic disembark at Shannon Airport and spend some time touring the west and the south west before coming on to Dublin at a later stage.
No word at all about the north.
It would be a retrograde step if the Government were to downgrade Shannon Airport. We cannot make one decision in isolation because as I see it there is no possible way for the Government to promote Knock Airport by allowing trans-Atlantic flights to land at Knock Airport without spelling the death knell for Shannon Airport. It will not suffice to say that this is exclusive to Knock Airport. I am well aware of the pressure which was put on the Government in recent years by the major carriers who wanted to by-pass Shannon Airport. They made a strong case for flying direct into Dublin from the United States but this Government and previous Governments realised that they have obligations towards Shannon Airport and withstood the pressure which was brought to bear on them by the American carriers. They have defended their right to stipulate Shannon Airport as the first port of call for trans-Atlantic flights. I do not believe that the Government will be able to hold that card if they make any exceptions to that rule because once they open the doors and allow trans-Atlantic flights to land at Knock Airport it will only be a matter of time before the American carriers apply maximum pressure to be allowed fly direct into Dublin Airport. I do not think that would be in the best interests of either Dublin or the west.
This matter has consequences for jobs both in the Shannon industrial zone and in tourism. There is an obligation on the Government to, first, spell out whether, as the Minister for the Environment seems to believe, a decision has been made. It was somewhat surprising that the Minister for the Environment, rather than the Minister for Tourism and Transport, made the announcement. I would like the Minister to tell us whether such a decision has been made and, if so, on what basis it was made. Is the Minister going to tell us that allowing trans-Atlantic flights to land at Knock Airport will not have any adverse effects on the Shannon region?
Retaining the status of Shannon Airport is not going to cause any major inconvenience. When this matter was discussed some years ago it was felt that Shannon Airport should not be downgraded. That was the collective wisdom of the Government at that time. I would like to know whether that view has changed or whether the Minister for Tourism and Transport has any reasons for changing that view. If Cardinal O'Connor of New York, who is associated with this decision in some way as the link man for bringing in these pilgrims, wants to visit Knock Airport there is little inherent inconvenience. If anything, I contend it would enhance the trip if trans-Atlantic planes were to land at Shannon on their way to Knock Airport. I am convinced, and time will bear this out, that a break from the precedent — not only established but for which we fought many battles to preserve because of the enormous pressure being brought to bear on the Government, the national carrier, and the authorities in charge of transport here by companies endeavouring to get direct flights into Dublin — would be enormously damaging and detrimental. There is also what is described as a hint in the Minister's Muintir Mhuigheo statement that European flights will be given similar rights.
Why not?
I welcome the Deputy to the House. There is an obligation on the Minister to spell that out as well. I will pose the direct question: have the Government decided to allow direct flights from Europe into Knock Airport? I wish Knock Airport well but we cannot separate what we are proposing for one airport without examining the consequences, in this case adverse ones, for another.
In one way I regret that all of the available funds have been invested in Knock Airport while developments should have been taking place at others, namely, at Farranfore, County Kerry, at Galway, Sligo, Castlebar and Waterford.
Perhaps Deputy Spring would talk about Knock Shrine now.
I wish Knock Shrine well, too, but the baseline on this is whether the Government have decided to allow these flights directly into Knock Airport. If that decision has been taken then I believe it should have been done by way of this House because it is of major importance to the transport policy of this country. It is not good enough for the Minister for the Environment to speak on a radio programme, to take a decision changing fundamentally what has been long-held transport policy, the values of transport policy here, indeed a decision which will have far-reaching consequences particularly for the immediate area of Shannon where the jobs of thousands of people are dependent on the trans-Atlantic service into Shannon Airport.
I should like to know what is the attitude of the Ministers for the Environment and for Tourism and Transport and that of the Taoiseach to those jobs in the Shannon region. If the performance of Government and conduct of Government policy in relation to this region over the past 15 months are anything to go by one cannot be too optimistic. Sadly, it would appear that the Government have taken a very conscious decision not alone to downgrade Limerick itself but obviously Shannon as well. It would appear that the Government are determined — because of some political problem they encounter in that area — not to give any uplift or boost to the Limerick or Shannon area.
I intervene merely to inform the Deputy that if he continues much longer he may appear to be at variance with his earlier timesharing offer.
I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for that timely reminder. I ask the Minister to clarify the position. This decision, even though it may have been of short-term gain to the Minister for the Environment in the west, will have far-reaching and detrimental consequences for the people of Shannon, Limerick and the mid-west region generally. In that I include most counties of the west coast from Galway to Kerry and I seek some clarification.
Deputies Carey and D. O'Malley will have three minutes respectively.
I raised this matter with the Ceann Comhairle today, asking that I be allowed to speak on the Adjournment. I thank Deputy Spring for having allowed me the opportunity to say a few words.
This matter of the overflying of Shannon Airport always has been of great concern to the management of Aer Rianta, the Shannon Free Airport Development Company and the people of Counties Clare and Limerick. It is not so long since it represented the greatest campaign of all of the people of the west, stretching from Donegal to Kerry. There has been much political mileage made of the status of Shannon from time to time and much mud-slinging. However, I do recognise the important contribution of the Fianna Fáil Party to Shannon in maintaining a certain amount of investment in that area over a lengthy period, apparently contrary to the wishes of people in Dublin. I acknowledge that contribution.
Since this matter has arisen I regret very much that the Minister for the Environment announced, on illegal radio, a Government decision about the overflying of Shannon Airport. Certainly it bodes ill for the Shannon region that announcements of that nature can be made in such a manner. Within the past month I tabled a question for written reply to the Minister for Tourism and Transport asking what were his proposals about the overflying of Shannon Airport and he informed me that there were and would be no such proposals. I took his solemn promise to mean just that, that present Government policy meant there would not be any overflying of Shannon Airport.
I await an assurance from the Minister this evening that there will be no overflying on the part of trans-Atlantic aircraft of Shannon Airport in the future. It would appear that the Minister for the Environment lost his reason when making that announcement.
I, too, am grateful to Deputy Spring for having given me an opportunity to speak on this matter this evening. I wanted to raise the matter myself today but did not have the opportunity. Unfortunately, other matters were taking place at the time.
The disadvantage of a debate such as this is that one does not hear what the Minister has to say, and one has to say one's bit beforehand.
Deputies will.
If the report contained in the Irish Press of this morning is untrue, I presume it would have been denied by the Government or the Minister for Tourism and Transport. I have no option, for the purposes of this debate, but to assume that it is true. If it is true I must say I am rather horrified at what is proposed, or what it has been suggested has been decided. It is suggested that the flying into Knock Airport by transatlantic flights would be confined to charters. However, it should be remember that the difference now between chartered and scheduled flights is negligible because all affinity or other restrictions or regulations are gone. One does not have to have pilgrims or people who fall within an affinity group, nowdays anybody can be put on a charter flight. Really there is not very much difference.
If this change has been made, then it has been made after 43 years of continuous policy by successive Governments. Certainly there has been no justification advanced for effecting such a change. It would be an amazing about-turn if this were to happen. We have had a long series of assurances given in this House. Deputy Carey mentioned one of those assurances. I remember in particular the debate on the Aer Rianta order, on the Air Navigation Bill and Transport Bill in this House in December last, when I asked the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism and Transport, Deputy Lyons, for an assurance that there would be no change of practice in relation to the position of Shannon Airport. He gave me that solemn assurance after due consideration, consultation and so on. He told me there would be no change in the status of Shannon Airport as being the airport to accommodate North Atlantic flights arriving into and leaving this country.
Aer Rianta have not been consulted about this matter. The first they heard about it was when they read about it in this morning's papers. As one might expect, they were horrified. They see this as extremely damaging to the whole Shannon region and their endeavours there. It will have very serious repercussions in terms of tourism, industry and employment generally. The position of Shannon always has been extremely sensitive; we are all well aware of the fact. Successive Governments for 43 years have been well aware of that fact. That is why they have always tread extremely warily. If this is true, I would view it as an extremely serious matter with very serious repercussions. I hope it is not true. I hope the Minister for Tourism and Transport, who is present this evening, will deny the statement made and assure us that the existing position will continue.
Tá áthas orm faill a bheith agam cás Aerphort Idirnáisiúnta Uí Óráin a phlé sa Teach.
I should, first, like to assure the House that the Government remain fully committed to their long-standing policy that Shannon remains Ireland's trans-Atlantic gateway. The benefits which the airport and its surrounding customs free zone have brought to the mid-West region and to Ireland in the years since their inception have been incalculable and the Government have actively encouraged the development and expansion of activities there. Most notably there has been a major expansion of SFADCo's role in that they have been given responsibility for the promotion and development — and I think Deputy O'Malley went part of this road when he was Minister — of all aspects of industry and tourism in the mid-West region, together with west and south-west Offaly. On the tourism side, this opens up major new opportunities for Shannon to achieve a substantial increase in the number of tourists visiting the region. Shannon Airport is, of course, the hub around which major economic and social developments have taken place in the mid-West region in the past 40 years and the Government remain committed to maintaining its status. Indeed many other parts of the country view with longing the status of Shannon, SFADCo and the mid-West region.
Policy on the Shannon stop issue has been reaffirmed by successive Governments in bilateral air service agreements which Ireland has concluded with other States over the last 40 years plus. For scheduled services between Ireland and North America, Shannon is the only permitted gateway. Flights to and from there must stop at Shannon on the westbound and eastbound journeys. Access by North American scheduled carriers to points in Ireland beyond Shannon is severely restricted — only one US carrier is allowed to serve one point beyond Shannon, i.e. Dublin, with a compulsory stop at Shannon in both directions. All carriers to and from North America — Aer Lingus, Northwest Orient, Pan Am and Delta — observe this obligation. While no US carrier at present serves Dublin — as the House knows Northwest Orient ceased to do so this year — Delta Airlines will inaugurate, shortly, an extension of their present Atlanta-Shannon service on to Dublin. I look forward to this service expanding the number of visitors to Ireland from the southern United States. In fact, statistics about the people they carry indicate we have a new non-ethnic source of visitor in the area that is served by Delta.
In the case of charter traffic from the US or Canada to Ireland, one stop at Shannon must be made in either direction, and as the House knows that is the established practice. In the case of charters where only one leg is routed through Ireland, the stop must still be made. In this context, I should say that as part of the Government's strategy to develop inward air charter traffic, I announced late last year a relaxation of the rules governing charters from the USA and Canada. The mingling of Irish and US-Canadian originating traffic on the same flight is now permitted, provided that no more than 30 per cent of capacity is allocated to Irish origin traffic. In addition, the advance purchase requirement has been reduced from 21 days to 14 days in the case of US traffic and eliminated altogether in the case of Canadian traffic.
In regard to trans-Atlantic air services to and from Horan International Airport, interest has been expressed from a number of sources in operating charter flights from North America to the airport, in the context of pilgrimages to the Marian Shrine. The Government have been anxious to extend the maximum possible support to such initiatives in the overall context of developing Horan International Airport and its surrounding region. There is obviously a very special link between Connacht Airport and the Marian Shrine at Knock. It was with this in mind that the Government decided that the circumstances warranted consideration of direct charter flights to Knock carrying pilgrimage traffic which would not otherwise come to Ireland. The Government regard the development and encouragement of this type of traffic as being highly desirable.
The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Padraig Flynn, quite correctly stated that we would be allowing direct pilgrimage flights into the Mayo airport, Horan International. As I have already outlined, in accordance with the charter rules, of course, the flight will return via Shannon. Accordingly applications for such trans-Atlantic charters should be made to my Department where they will be considered on a case by case basis. I should add that there are quite liberal rules in operation regarding charter applications to serve Horan International Airport from the Continent and Britain. I think Deputy Spring did not brief himself fully on that because, of course, that obtained in 1987 also. Indeed there is already a range of scheduled services from Birmingham, Luton and Manchester by Ryanair. Next month the company also plan a new service from London-Gatwick. Of course, there are also scheduled flights to, for example, Carrickfinn and needless to say these flights have not been landing at Shannon and going back up to Carrickfinn.
I think I have clarified the issue quite clearly for the House. I want to state that far from any damage to Shannon being contemplated by the Government, we are fully committed to its development in all the ways I have mentioned.
That is the thin end of the wedge. It is the end of the road.
I know that the Deputies are disappointed——
We are very disappointed.
——but the sound and fury we had here has no justification.
Tá an Dáil ar athló——
Can I ask the Minister a question——
Tá an Dáil ar athló——
(Interruptions.)
Can I ask the Minister if he realises that charter flights are not now subject——
The Dáil adjourned at 8.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 May 1988.