KNOCK Airport is to be favoured over Shannon, “without a genuine economic case for doing so,” according to Deputy Willie O’Dea. With Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar’s decision on Shannon’s future due within the next fortnight, the Limerick deputy says it is essential that Shannon continues to receive subvention from the Dublin Airport Authority in order to continue to deliver a quality service for the Mid West Region.
“The Government is deliberately preparing the ground to abandon support for Shannon Airport in favour of bolstering Knock without a genuine economic case for doing so and threatening future investment and employment in the Midwest,” Willie O’Dea TD has said.
“Minister Varadkar is clearly in the process of conditioning people in the region to the fact that Shannon Airport will be cut loose from the lifeline provided by the DAA and be left to go it alone at a time of economic crisis – in a recent local radio interview, he said it is reasonably likely that Knock will overtake Shannon this year on passenger numbers”.
Disputing the minister’s prediction, Deputy O’Dea said there is no evidence to support his claim.
“Shannon is currently accommodating close to 900,000 passengers more than Knock, so how exactly does the minister see such a massive increase in Knock taking place in such a short space of time? This is totally unrealistic”.
Accusing the minister of failing to show any clear commitment to Shannon’s future, deputy O’Dea said he believes that Shannon is not in a radically different position from that of Cork Airport at the moment.
“Yet, Shannon seems to be in the minister’s firing line.
“He is on record as saying that public representatives should be ‘sensitive and responsible’ in public comment. How does he square that with saying Knock is likely to overtake Shannon? Businesses and in particular potential foreign investors will not be assured by the minister’s commentary on Shannon Airport, and I believe this has the potential to damage investment and employment for the region”.
Querying the government’s intention towards Shannon, Mr O’Dea says the public has the right to know if there has been a deliberate shift in government policy to grow Knock Airport at the expense of Shannon.
“If so why – people have a right to know and the Government has been less than forthcoming with answers to-date”.
