Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 March 2023
6. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide an update on his response to the calls from the north west of Ireland for the Government to reinstate financial support to the City of Derry Airport to reflect the fact that 40% of its passengers come from County Donegal. [10009/23]
View answerThe issue here is in the question. Some 40% of passengers who use the City of Derry Airport are from Donegal. This airport has been held up by the ratepayers of Derry City and Strabane District Council for many years. There used to be a direct air route from Derry to Dublin. I ask the Government to step up and pay a fair share of the running costs of this airport, which is very important for our region.
I advise the Deputy that the City of Derry Airport sought to be included under the regional airports programme for the period from 2021 to 2025 and made a submission to a previous public consultation held by my Department in September 2019. As the Deputy has referenced, Derry airport asserts that its position is unique on the island of Ireland as it serves a large customer base on both sides of the Border. However, as advised to the airport at that time, the primary aim of the regional airports programme is to target funding, which is limited, at the smallest airports so that they can maintain compliance in the areas of safety and security in line with EU rules on state aid. Eligible airports facilitate connectivity to the regions, including to the north-west region via Donegal Airport, which is supported under the programme. While it is acknowledged that the City of Derry Airport has a role in helping to facilitate connectivity to the north-west region, extending the scope and cost of the programme to include the airport has not been an option in the context of the limited Exchequer funding previously available under the programme. Other Irish airports have also sought inclusion under the programme. Consideration of their inclusion has not been possible due to limited capacity for widening the field of supports.
The Government did previously provide Exchequer support, on a joint funding basis with the British Government, to the airport in 2005 to facilitate a capital project. A public service obligation, PSO, air service between Derry and Dublin was also previously supported. A desk-based review is currently under way.
It should be acknowledged that, while not eligible for funding from the Irish Exchequer, Derry airport, which is owned by Derry City and Strabane District Council, is in receipt of funding from that council and has also been in receipt of funding from the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Department for Transport. Derry airport has been informed of my Department's position, most recently last November when Department officials and the Minister of State who was then in the Department, Deputy Naughton, met a delegation including management of the airport. I will engage with and meet with airport representatives in the coming months. I was actually in Derry yesterday with the Deputy's colleague, Councillor Sandra Duffy, at the launch of the new multimodal hub, which will enhance rail and bus connectivity and which we have supported. We are keen to support transport in the region. I have just set out the historic position relating to the airport and why it was not possible to provide funding under the programme for the period from 2021 to 2025.
I know the Minister of State is very familiar with the geography of Donegal and the north west. While we welcome the support and funding for the airport in west Donegal, the reality of the geography of Donegal is that people in much of north Donegal, east Donegal and the Inishowen Peninsula would use the City of Derry Airport for many of their trips, particularly across to England or Scotland. It is to be hoped that, very soon, they will be able to take trips to Dublin and on to the rest of the world. It is a critically important connection. As the Minister of State will know, the A5 has been stuck in a legal quagmire for too long and we do not have a rail connection. We do not have a motorway or rail connection to the north west so this is critical. The former Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, committed to looking at all of this through the shared island unit. I appeal to the Minister of State to work with the shared island unit and to see what he can do in his own Department to reinstate funding for the airport as soon as possible.
In the context of supporting greater connectivity on the island of Ireland, the Government agreed to take forward a review of the potential to support air routes from Cork to Belfast and from Dublin to Derry, working with the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as part of our commitments under the New Decade, New Approach agreement. As I said, a desk-based review is being progressed. It has yet to be concluded and its findings have yet to be brought to us. As I said, I will seek to engage with and meet airport representatives. I understand the geography of Donegal and that west Donegal is far apart from the other side, adjacent to Derry. We have to look at this in the overall context of the previous iteration of the regional airports programme.
It was not possible. We will have to await the findings of the review.
I will reiterate some of my points. Disastrously, the A5 project has been stuck in a quagmire for too long. In fairness to the Irish Government, in the St. Andrews Agreement, it committed to co-funding that project. I am hopeful that it will eventually get started and that the Irish Government will co-fund it. There is a lot of precedent for the Irish Government co-funding strategically important transport projects in the North of Ireland that are of value to all of our citizens on the island. Among our people in Donegal, Derry and west Tyrone, there is a collective sense that they do not have equal access to transport infrastructure with regard to rail, roads and airports. For the foreseeable future, it will be important for the Irish Government to co-fund the airport in Derry. I hope that, in due course, we will have equality of infrastructure with the rest of the island.
On the overall point, as I said, I was in Derry yesterday at the launch of the multimodal hub, which is a good example of collaboration between North and South and which will be of enormous benefit to citizens in the region. I agree with the many posters I saw in the broader region yesterday with regard to the ongoing delays with the A5 and the dangerous roads, which obviously have an impact on road safety. We also have the all-island strategic rail review, which will present an exciting opportunity for North-South development when it is concluded and considered by everybody, North and South. I will engage with the airport. In parallel, a desk-based review is under way. We will keep engaging with all interested parties with regard to the outcome.
