No grants were paid by my Department to Shannon airport in 2013 nor were there any debts owing by the airport to my Department. Credit arrangements or loan agreements between SAA and third parties, including agencies under the aegis of my Department, are a commercial matter for those bodies. That said I understand from SAA that, other than normal trade creditors, the company had no debts in 2013. The Deputy will of course be aware that in the previous year, Shannon airport secured its independence from DAA. On 31 December 2012, the assets and business of Shannon airport were transferred by DAA to the Shannon Airport Authority while DAA retained all then existing group debt following this restructuring.
Under the proposed restructuring of SAA and Shannon Development, there will be no transfer of assets from the latter to the airport. It is proposed that a new commercial State company, Shannon Group plc, will be established and that both SAA and Shannon Development will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of that new company. Both subsidiaries will maintain their separate legal identities, and their assets. While Shannon Development’s annual accounts for last year are not yet available, I understand that the company’s total income was approximately €12m, of which approximately €8.4m was rental income. Total expenditure by Shannon Development last year was approximately €12.5m.
One of the priorities arising from the Shannon Task Force report of 2012 was the urgent need to stem the constant fall in passenger numbers at the airport over the previous five years. As the Deputy will be aware from the results announced recently by the airport, the SAA achieved this crucial objective last year and the decline of the airport has been halted. Passenger numbers last year were 1.4m, a marginal increase on 2012’s figure of 1.39m. This is a major achievement for Shannon in its first year as an independent airport and now that traffic has been stabilised, the airport authority is looking forward to renewed growth this year.
The next major step in implementing the Task Force recommendations will be the publication of the Bill to provide for the establishment of Shannon Group on a statutory basis. This Bill is currently being finalised by my Department in conjunction with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and I expect to publish it next month. In tandem with the preparation of the Shannon Group Bill, work on developing the vision for an aviation services centre in Shannon has also been progressed and that work will continue. I am confident that this work will result in the establishment of new business activities and the creation of new job opportunities in the medium term.
