This article is from page 20 of the 2010-02-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
IT IS time the Government called Michael O’Leary’s bluff and abol- ished the €10 travel tax to see if Ryanair services would be restored at Shannon Airport.
That’s the view expressed by Clare Fine Gael TD Pat Breen who, in last week’s Dail debate on the Finance Bill, said he was hugely disappointed that no transitional measure was in- cluded in the Bill to abolish the air travel tax.
‘This tax has been a disaster. When
three airlines – Aer Lingus, Cityjet and Ryanair – plead with the Govern- ment to abolish it, something is seri- ously wrong. Passenger numbers are collapsing at Shannon,” he said.
“3.6 million passengers went through the airport in 2007. This fell to 3.16 million in 2008 and while the 2009 figure has yet to be published, I understand it will be approximately 2.9 million. Only last week, Ryanair announced that several of the desti- nations which were well supported from Shannon, such as Alicante, Faro, Barcelona and Lanzarote, will
move to other Irish airports.
“The situation regarding the future of Aer Lingus in Shannon is also very uncertain. I have heard no commit- ment from the new director general that Aer Lingus is in Shannon for the long haul. It will be catastrophic for the region if these services go. The Government cannot just tax its way out of the recession. More innovative ideas are important as the recession deepens. It must introduce a policy that works and admit it got it wrong with regard to this tax.”
Referring to the rise in unemploy-
ment among the under-25 age group, Deputy Breen said that over the past two years the unemployment rate for this age group has grown by 137 per cent, from 808 in January 2008 to 1,215 in January 2009.
“The Government must deal with the situation and put in a stimulus package for these young people. If not, they will become despondent or do what they are doing, namely, leav- ing these shores in their thousands.
“There is huge potential for energy and the development of renewable energy projects in the mid-west re-
gion. We have the Ardnacrusha and Moneypoint power stations and the gas pipeline runs from Limerick to Galway and along the Shannon estu- ary. There is so much untapped po- tential.
“Denis Brosnan and his team on the Mid-West Task Force stated that a compelling case could be presented to attract mobile international invest- ment but it is not just international investment we should target. We should also reward small and medi- um enterprises that invest in research and development,” he said.