Jim Higgins
Question:3 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she has received the consultants report on slotting at Dublin Airport; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13305/01]
Ceisteanna – Questions. Priority Questions. - Air Slotting Arrangements.
My Department has received the final report on Dublin Airport commissioned from the consultants. This final report has been produced following consultation on its conclusions with the users of Dublin Airport. The report states that my decision to designate Dublin Airport as co-ordinated and to appoint Airports Co-ordinated Limited as co-ordinator at Dublin Airport was fully justified. It also states that Dublin Airport does not need to be fully co-ordinated at present. However, the report points out that the success of the airport's current voluntary co-ordination arrangements depends on the airlines at Dublin Airport co-operating with the co-ordinator. The report recommends that the situation at Dublin Airport should be kept under review. This report has been conveyed to the Commission for Aviation Regulation, which now has responsibility for airport slots, and is available on the commission's website.
(Mayo): Does the Minister accept that the report found conclusively that runway capacity is not the problem at Dublin Airport and that there is not any need for full co-ordination? The Minister announced last summer that full co-ordination was necessary. She was wrongly advised by Aer Rianta on that.
She backed off that.
I did. It needs to be co-ordinated.
(Mayo): There is a difference between co-ordination and full co-ordination. Co-ordination is where the airlines agree to abide by certain ground rules and to behave themselves. It is voluntary. Does the Minister agree that the report found conclusively that the problem at Dublin Airport is extreme congestion in the terminal, particularly during the summer, and that this will continue unless urgent action is taken? Does she also agree that despite the appointment of IBM, another consultancy firm, to provide stand management software, large numbers of passengers cross each other from Piers A, B and C which causes chaos, particularly at a time when flights converge?
There is a difficulty in merging old and new buildings and systems. It is a pity there was a delay of up to two years in sanctioning the buildings, which are now completed. I spoke in error when I said full co-ordination. No one advised me on that. The Deputy is right that there is a difference between co-ordination and full co-ordination. Co-ordination depends on goodwill, voluntary co-operation and working through the processes. It depends on the airlines co-operating with the co-ordinator and the regulator who is in charge of it.
(Mayo): Does the Minister accept that the situation at Dublin Airport is still chaotic and sometimes a mess? Is she aware, for example, that on Tuesday morning at 8.30, when I was leaving one of my kith and kin back at Dublin Airport, there was a queue three deep which stretched for almost 100 yards? There were between 200 and 300 people in it. What type of welcome is it in the Ireland of 2001 to ask business people who have flown across the world from Japan and other places in the Far East or from the United States to queue for a taxi for an hour or an hour and a half? I checked the waiting time. Does she accept we must be the only capital city in the world with an airport of such a size which does not have a second terminal? I do not hold a brief for Ryanair or anyone else in terms of a second terminal. Is it time to look at our land usage and the possibility of a second terminal, perhaps opening on to the M50? We must do something to decongest Dublin Airport which caters for 13 to 14 million passengers at present and it is predicted that figure will rise to 20 million in the next four or five years. We need a root and branch re-examination of our attitude to terminal space and the use of available land.
I do not have any reservations about looking at that issue. However, I have strong reservations about people who wish to have a terminal without landing charges. As regards the taxis, I do not know how many were in a taxi queue. We had a meeting last week in the Taoiseach's office under the national development plan and the first leg of metro will be from Dublin city centre to the airport. That is necessary. There is no doubt it is congested.
(Mayo): When will the metro be put in place?
The plan now is for the first tranche to be from Dublin city centre to the airport. I understand there is a plan by the airport authorities to run—
(Mayo): When will there be a metro?
In 2015.
No. It will take three to five years for the leg from Dublin city centre to the airport. There is also a plan to run increased internal buses from the long-term car parks to the airport. That is already under way but more is required. I regret the two-year delay in allowing building to go ahead has meant a lapse and congestion. I understand efforts are being made and I hope they work out satisfactorily. They need to, if the new and old buildings and arrangements are to be co-ordinated.