Denis Naughten
Question:366 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport the value of the marketing budget for 2003 for each regional airport; when these funds will be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6128/03]
Written Answers - Regional Airports.
The provision for current expenditure in relation to the regional airports in my Department's estimates for this year is €22.4 million. These funds will be used to subvent the PSO regional air services and my Department's grant scheme for supporting marketing, safety and security measures at each of the regional airports.
In recent years, the overall budget for the marketing, safety and security grant scheme has been €1.9 million per annum and I would expect that the overall funding for the scheme can be maintained at approximately the same level in the current year.
Over the past couple of years, the regional airports have been notified of their allocation under this grant scheme in the June-July period. I would expect to advance the timetable this year and to be in a position to inform the airports of their grants no later than April. In this regard, my Department will be giving careful consideration over the coming weeks to the appropriate level of funding under the scheme for each of the regional airports.