Vol. 576 No. 5
367 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport his proposals for the future operation of Shannon Airport, with particular reference to the US-Ireland bilateral agreement and the alternative proposals put forward with a view to ensuring the viability of the airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29832/03]
Following unanimous agreement by the Council of Transport Ministers on 5 June, to give the European Commission a mandate to negotiate an open aviation area, OAA, agreement with the United States, the first round of formal detailed negotiations was held in Washington in early October. A second round of negotiations will take place in Brussels on 9, 10 and 11 December 2003. During these negotiations, a special committee made up of all member states will assist the Commission. Ireland is represented on this committee by a senior official from my Department. It is unclear how long these negotiations will take.
In dealing with the issue of the dual gateway status of Shannon Airport, I must also take account of wider considerations, especially the opportunities for new business for Ireland currently not being exploited due to the limitation on the number of US destinations open to Irish airlines because of that dual gateway policy.
The recent report of the tourism policy review group to the Minister of Arts, Sport and Tourism recommends that my Department should immediately renegotiate the Ireland-US international air agreement in advance of an EU-US agreement to remove the present US gateways restriction.
As I have said before, change in this area is inevitable. Officials are holding consultations, on my behalf, with the trade unions representing airport staff, and I will shortly consult the new board-designate of Shannon Airport. I have also recently spoken to interest groups from the Shannon region. When these consultations are concluded, I will decide on the next steps.
