90. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Transport when he expects the review of the Government aviation policy to be completed; his plans for airports outside of Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22420/25]

Sentiment score: 0.01

As my colleague said, these questions focus on when we can see a review. Does the Minister have any idea when the draft review will be done? When will the review be completed? Shannon Airport is one of the regional airports we will be championing. As the Minister knows, Shannon Airport is the gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way. It serves the mid-west region. As we have said in the past, it is the fulcrum of the prosperity that is in the area, and thousands of people are dependent on Shannon Airport. It is a fantastic airport and is under-used. It has the capacity for up to 5 million people but it does not get anywhere near that many, unfortunately.

Sentiment score: 0.06

Nobody is asking the Minister to rush the review or to do a review that would not be comprehensive, but as he knows, the last review was done ten years ago. People in the mid-west region and in Mayo and Galway are waiting for what the outcome of that review will be. Shannon Airport, as I said, has the capacity to handle 5 million passengers per year. In 2024, it serviced 2.1 million passengers and, therefore, has the capacity to grow. Four members of the Shannon International Airport Oireachtas Group are in the Chamber today. We met recently with the chief executive of Shannon Airport Group. From that meeting, I can verify that the chief executive and the wider group, as the Minister said, are ready and willing to expand their operations if they can get the supports from the Government. I worked in the travel industry for 19 years; I know we cannot tell airlines what to do. However, as my colleague, Deputy McGettigan, said, we can support the airlines and make it more attractive for them. That has to be what we do. We cannot go on with this situation. We are probably the only country in the world where 80% of the flights from the country go from one airport. That has to change. We have significant capacity for our airports to deal with those issues.

Sentiment score: 0.11