Seán Crowe
Question:136 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport the reports upon which he is basing his decision to break up Aer Rianta; and the details of the recent reports which support the break up of the company. [28532/03]
Written Answers. - Future of Aer Rianta.
Seán Crowe
Question:137 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Warburg report, commissioned by the previous Minister and published in 1999, concluded that Aer Rianta should not be broken up; and the changes which have taken place since to make the break up of Aer Rianta a viable option. [28533/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.
There have been a number of consultancy or expert reports in recent years on Aer Rianta and the State airports, including the Warburg Dillon Read report of 1999 which reviewed the strategic options for the future of Aer Rianta, the Doganis report of January 2002 on aviation-tourism issues, and the Mullarkey report of February 2003 on the independent terminal concept for Dublin Airport. In addition, in May this year, Aer Rianta submitted to me a copy of a report which the company commissioned from NERA Economic Consulting on competition in the context of Irish airports. The Warburg Dillon Read report of 1999, while offering some general observations on the issue of separating the three State airports, did not analyse this issue, draw any conclusions or make any recommendations in respect of it.
There has been a broad level of support for the Government's decision to restructure Aer Rianta, a strategic decision taken on foot of a programme for Government commitment to continue to transform Aer Rianta and, as part of that process, to ensure that Shannon and Cork airports have greater autonomy and independence. The new arrangements are designed to strengthen and expand each of the three airports and give both Shannon and Cork airports a fresh start under strong and visionary leadership. All three airports can perform even better than they have to date and, through more focused commercial operation, each can play a greater role in stimulating and supporting regional economic activity to the benefit of its customers, both airlines and passengers, and tourism, trade and industry.
It is proposed that the two new independent airport authorities for Shannon and Cork will both commence business free of debt and that the debts associated with these airports, including the debt associated with the major new investment programme under way at Cork Airport, will remain with Dublin Airport. The desirability of these debt arrangements emerged from my Department's consideration of the financial position of the three State airports within the current Aer Rianta structure which was provided to my Department by Aer Rianta. My Department was assisted in its analysis of the Aer Rianta data by PricewaterhouseCoopers which completed its work in March this year. These debt arrangements will ensure that both Shannon and Cork airports will have sound balance sheets, giving both a fresh start to develop and grow their business.