Vol. 496 No. 3
53 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Public Enterprise her views on whether the transfer of developed airline routes to Ryanair in 1989 represented a State aid; the reason it has not been reported to the European Commission; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22660/98]
The allocation of particular routes for Ryanair in 1989 did not represent a State aid and therefore did not require to be reported to the European Commission. The then Minister for Tourism and Transport granted exclusive rights to Ryanair in 1989 on the routes from Ireland to Luton and Stansted and from Dublin to Liver-pool and Munich. At the same time, it was decided to grant Aer Lingus sole rights on the routes from Ireland to Heathrow and Gatwick and from Dublin to Manchester and Paris.
As I stated in my reply of 30 September last to Parliamentary Question No. 95, the EU Commission had requested details in March 1998 of the landing charges discount scheme operated by Aer Rianta and full details of this scheme have been provided by my Department. The Commission did not at that time and has not since pursued the matter of the transfer of particular routes to Ryanair in 1989.
