Vol. 572 No. 6
88 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the heading in his Department's estimates under which the ?353,400 will be provided to upgrade car parking facilities at Knock International Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24076/03]
101 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if money can be made available for airport development in all CLÁR, RAPID I and RAPID II areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24075/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 101 together.
Following consultation with the Department of Transport, and with the approval of the Department of Finance, the funding towards the development of Knock International Airport, Charlestown, County Mayo, is being made available by my Department under the CLÁR programme for disadvantaged rural areas. This is the only regional airport in a CLÁR area. Expenditure under CLÁR is met from subhead O3 in my Department's Vote.
Supporting regional airport development was identified as a potential investment measure for the development of the areas included in the CLÁR programme. Further investment in airport development in CLÁR areas is not proposed at this time.
As regards RAPID, the Deputy will appreciate that it is the responsibility of each Department to fund proposals from RAPID plans that fall within funding measures in their Department. Airport development was not identified as a priority for local areas in the RAPID plans.
