This article is from page 16 of the 2007-10-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has been unable to tell the Dail when the long-anticipated eco- nomic plan in response to Open Skies aviation deal will be published.
This follows a Dail question from Deputy Pat Breen asking whether funding will be made available to the Midwest region following the in- troduction of Open Skies; and if so, when it will be made available and who will have responsibility for the management of the fund
In response, Minister Dempsey said, “My department is currently finalising an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Finance, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tour- ism, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the De- partment of Communications, En- ergy and Natural Resources.
“The purpose of the plan is to en-
sure that the region is well placed to respond to the challenges and oppor- tunities emerging in the context of full liberalisation of the transatlantic aviation market and the phasing out of the Shannon stop as envisaged under the EU-US Open Skies Agree- ment. I hope to bring the plan to con- clusion shortly.”
The plan, which was launched in July 2006, seeks to achieve a tour-
ism promotional fund of €44 mil- hon from Government funds, a route support fund of €9 million and an independent and financially viable S)at-beveleyembeneleum
Already, the Mid-West Regional Authority has written to Government asking why funding has not been forthcoming.
The phased ending of the Shannon stop-over commenced earlier this year and Shannon has already lost a number of transatlantic services for the next winter.
The agreement stipulates that full Open Skies will commence in April pau eres
The five-year plan aims to secure a 30 per cent share of the direct trans- atlantic market between America and Ireland and to achieve an appro- priate sustainable level of year-round services to main US gateways.
Currently, Shannon has 37 per cent of the Irish transatlantic business.