Vol. 551 No. 4
30 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the payments which have been made by the EU Commission to Ireland in relation to applications made for compensation following the 11 September 2001 atrocities; if the full amount requested has been paid; the status of the further submission made by Ireland for increased compensation based on the losses incurred by Aer Lingus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10350/02]
There was never any question of compensation being paid by the European Commission.
The Transport Council on 16 October 2001, agreed that member states could pay state aid, subject to the approval by the European Commission of the terms of each member state's scheme, to airlines whose operations were affected by the four day closure of US airspace. This aid is in recognition of the impact of the costs incurred by EU airlines during this closure.
Before the end of 2001, my Department had paid the full amount sought by Aer Lingus, €6,668,770, and by Cityjet, €197,867. In January 2002, my Department also received claims from Aer Arann and Ryanair and a further claim was recently received from Cityjet.
