Vol. 427 No. 3
9 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has any plans to review the decision on the Shannon stopover which was made by his predecessor; if any study has been taken of Dublin originating passengers to North America, with a view to establishing the number of persons who travel via Shannon and via airports in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
23 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the Government's policy relating to Shannon airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose taking Question Nos. 9 and 23 together.
On 27 October 1992, the Government reaffirmed Shannon Airport as Ireland's sole transatlantic gateway for scheduled air services. This decision was arrived at following the detailed consideration of all the submissions received, both for and against a change in policy and following consultations with all the interested parties involved.
One of the submissions received in favour of a change in policy contained a study of the number of passengers who travel between Ireland and North America via airports in the UK. The Government's reasons for retaining the Shannon stop policy were explained in detail at the time of the announcement of the decision. I have no plans to undertake a review of that decision.
Can the Minister tell us if his Department has made any attempt to verify the figures which were given in the DKM study which showed that something like 100,000 passengers go through London? Has he made any attempt to update those findings or to establish figures for the numbers of passengers going through Glasgow and Manchester?
Yes. The study to which the Deputy referred was based on research carried out by the British civil aviation authorities. We would be broadly in agreement that those are the figures. In order to address that problem it is clear that we need to ensure that our national airline is in a position to win back those markets — it has suffered a loss of market share vis-à-vis its other competitors. These issues are being actively considered by the board, management and my Department at present.
With regard to the competitiveness of the national airline, would the Minister like to tell us what steps the Government intends to take to provide additional equity to the national airline? Will he amplify the Budget Statement of the Minister for Finance which seemed to be rather vague on that matter?
The Deputy is introducing new matter.
I think what the Minister for Finance said in his Budget Statement and the position of the Government, in line with the programme for Government — which is to ensure the commercial future of the airline — is that the Government would support a viable and convincing recovery plan once it is in place. As the Deputy knows, all airlines have been going through a very difficult period. The core airline business has been experiencing difficulties for some years now. I received a report during the past few weeks and this is being actively assessed as a matter of top priority in my Department. As soon as the assessment on whether the measures contained in the report are sufficient to deal with the issue and to ensure a commercial future for the national airline the appropriate decisions will be taken. As I said, this report is under active and urgent consideration in my Department.
May I——
A very brief question, Deputy. The time for dealing with priority questions is well nigh exhausted.
May I ask the Minister when he expects to be in a position to have that assessment completed and a Government decision made and announced?
I can assure the Deputy that this will be done as soon as possible. It is important that we get it right and do not jump in and make decisions in regard to this matter. This is not in any way to minimise the difficulties the airline is experiencing. In the interests of all the stakeholders in the airline, the shareholders, the workforce, the management, the board and the creditors, a recovery plan will be put forward which we hope will ensure a viable and prosperous future for the airline in the years ahead.
We now come to deal with other questions. Question No. 12 in the name of Deputy Rabbitte.
