Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Jan 1992

Vol. 415 No. 1

Written Answers. - Airport for Letterkenny.

Patrick D. Harte

Ceist:

465 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if he will make a statement on the proposal to provide an airport at Letterkenny, County Donegal; and if he will give details of the Government's application to the European Community for grant aid to develop the airport.

Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications (Mr. S. Brennan)

Proposals for an airport at Letterkenny, County Donegal, have been under consideration for a number of years.

An application for £2.5 million EC assistance for the Letterkenny project was included in my Department's application for aid under the operational programme on peripherality in mid-1989. I followed up this application in April 1990 with strong representations to the EC Commissioner for Regional Policy seeking confirmation that European Regional Development Fund money would be forthcoming as I would like to inform the promoters of the airport as soon as possible to enable them to start raising the necessary finance for their contribution.

In May 1990, I received a reply that no assurance of European Regional Development Fund assistance could be given. In June 1990, the Commission rejected the Letterkenny proposal for assistance stating that they were not convinced that the proposed creation of an airport at Letterkenny should be assisted by the European Regional Development Fund, taking into account the presence of Eglinton Airport nearby and the improved road link between Letterkenny and the Border. The Commission stated that there were also two other airports in or close to County Donegal — Carrickfin and Sligo — both of which were to be improved with European Regional Development Fund assistance under the programme. If Letterkenny were to be assisted, according to the Commission, there would then be four airports serving the north-west of Ireland, all created or improved with European Regional Development Fund aid. They concluded by saying that such an outcome would be very hard to justify and that one or more of these airports would rapidly become unviable.

On 24 October 1990, I met with the Letterkenny Airport Committee and informed them, despite severe financial constraints on the Exchequer, I would be prepared to seek Government approval for Exchequer assistance towards a scaled down air facility. By way of example I cited the type in operation on the Aran Islands.

In May 1991 I received a submission from Donegal County Council, which outlined two options for an airport costing £3.346 million and £4.596 million, respectively. Both envisaged a 1,400 × 30 metre runway capable of handling Fokker 50 commuter-type aircraft. Projections of passenger numbers, revenue and expenditure were subsequently provided by Donegal County Council. Additional information in support of the proposal was sought by my Department in November 1991. This information has not yet been received.