Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 31 March 2011
118 Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Transport, as the continuation of reductions of Kerry-Dublin flights is impacting severely on tourism and business in County Kerry and jobs at Kerry Airport, if he will bring forward to a more immediate date the public service obligation which was originally scheduled for July 2011. [6346/11]
View answerMy Department is in the final stages of consultation with Kerry Airport on the specifications for a new PSO air service on the Kerry-Dublin air route. Discussions with the EU Commission are also ongoing. The next step in the process is the submission of necessary PSO and tender notifications to the European Commission for approval and publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. In line with the EU guidelines, the process of renewal of a PSO takes a minimum of 6 months from the date the notices appear in the Official Journal. My Department is making every effort to expedite the completion of the necessary documentation and transmission to the European Commission.
