Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
100. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Transport if he will ensure that his Department's officials urgently engage with their counterparts in the Department of the Taoiseach and the board of the City of Derry Airport to provide financial assistance to the airport utilising the shared island fund. [21017/22]
View answerThe City of Derry Airport is a really important resource to the people of the north west of Ireland. Some 40% of the passengers who use the airport are from Donegal, flying to Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Stansted and other locations across Europe. The Irish Government has not funded this airport for about a decade now. It is an absolute disgrace. This has to be sorted out. Will the Minister work with the Taoiseach to do so?
I thank the Deputy for his question. The shared island fund is allocated by the Department of the Taoiseach to approved collaborative North-South projects that implement the Government’s investment commitments and objectives on a shared island as set out in the programme for Government and the shared island dimension of the revised National Development Plan 2021-2030, including the Government’s commitments under the New Decade, New Approach agreement of January 2020.
There is no Government undertaking to provide financial assistance to City of Derry Airport. Under the New Decade, New Approach agreement the Government committed to conducting a review of the viability of air routes from Dublin to Derry and from Cork to Belfast, which has been progressed by my Department in consultation with officials in the Department of the Taoiseach. I and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, are considering that review in consultation with Government colleagues, and the Government will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Executive and UK Government as appropriate and with stakeholders in the north-west region on this exercise.
As the Deputy knows, the regional airports programme supports regional connectivity to the north-west region. We have a PSO air service between Donegal and Dublin. I know the Deputy is very familiar with it. This marks the Government's commitment to ensuring continued connectivity to the region for the next three years. That commenced on 26 February. Also in line with the Government's commitment to regional balanced development, that Donegal-Dublin PSO air service supports the growth of the economy through tourism, supporting the region, providing really critical travel needs to those travelling to Dublin for medical and other important appointments. This review is ongoing within our Department. I and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will be working with the Department of the Taoiseach and my Government colleagues regarding the other services.
Donegal Airport is a superb airport in west Donegal, no doubt about it. Just to outline geography, there is a reason 40% of the passengers in City of Derry Airport come from Donegal. It is only half an hour from my home in Buncrana to get to City of Derry Airport while it is about an hour and a half to west Donegal. That is the reality. In the Inishowen Peninsula, Letterkenny and Finn Valley people use City of Derry Airport. For a very large section of Donegal they use Donegal Airport.
Derry is the fourth largest city on the island with 500,000 people in the region. The Irish Government has removed funding now for a decade. The Minister of State has given me a more hopeful response today, I must say. In recent responses to parliamentary questions, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was refusing to even meet with a cross-party delegation of councillors from Donegal, Derry and Strabane. The Taoiseach was recently in Derry. He said to councillors at a meeting that the shared island unit may well be a source of income. Will the Minister of State work with the Taoiseach on the basis of that assurance and try to solve this conundrum for us?
As I said, what I and the Minister have committed to doing is conducting that review around the viability of those air routes between Dublin and Derry, and Cork and Belfast. We are working with the Department of the Taoiseach in respect of that. It is also important to say that the City of Derry Airport is already in receipt of funding support from Derry City and Strabane District Council and has received funding from the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department of Transport in the UK, including most recently a £3 million grant announced by the Northern Ireland Executive last month. The Deputy can be assured that the work is ongoing. The Department of the Taoiseach is involved in this as well and there will be a governmental decision with the Department of Transport in respect of these routes.
What makes it more important is that we have been heartbroken by what has happened with the A5. We were supposed to have a motorway. There is no direct rail connection from Derry and the north west of Ireland. There is no direct motorway connection and no direct air connection. It is a mortal sin what is happening to us. We have been waiting for this motorway. There is no connection. If we have an air connection from north Donegal and County Derry, the entire county, and west Tyrone, it means people can get not just to Dublin but to the world via Dublin Airport. This is about equality of access. Someone can travel half an hour to an airport, fly to Dublin and connect to nearly anywhere. There is certainly massive connectivity to the world. Tourists coming into Ireland can fly to Dublin Airport and connect to Derry. The Minister of State can see how crucial this is. We have let this go now for ten years. I appeal to the Minister of State. She knows about geography, representing a county like Galway. We need to get access into Derry and north Donegal, equality of access for our people to the rest of the country.
I thank the Deputy. Again I want to say that as part of the programme for Government regional connectivity is absolutely critical. There have been limited funding resources even around the regional airports programme and there are lots of requests to come in under that, including for the City of Derry Airport. To be very to the point, there are limited resources. Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic we wanted to try to support our regional airports as much as possible in the midst of a crisis. I can say to the Deputy that the review is currently under consideration and I and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, are working with the Department of the Taoiseach and will be looking at those routes as well. They will be under active consideration.
