This article is from page 16 of the 2011-11-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
SHANNON Airport losses over the past three years could be as high as € 25m but, according to one government TD in Clare, the airport should not be required to turn a profit to justify its existence.
Labour’s Michael McNamara has told the team of consultants hired by the Government to map out a new future for the airport that it should not be about profit, but instead maintaining mid-west’s key piece of infrastructure.
“The airport should not be required to make a profit, although this would be a bonus,” says Deputy McMamara in his submission to the team of consultants.
“If a government subvention is required to maintain a publiclyowned airport, then so be it,” he adds in the wake of a meeting with the consultants in the company of Jan O’Sullivan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
This is despite the fact that Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar has said “there aren’t subsidies available for the airport, there wasn’t during the boom and there certainly isn’t now”, while Shannon Airport Authority chairman Brian O’Connell has said “it is not sustainable for any business to continue in a loss-making mode”.
“Shannon Airport should remain in state ownership and control in one form or another. Possible synergies with state undertakings par- ticularly those which manage key regional transport infrastructures, should be considered,” says Deputy McNamara. “Shannon should be viewed as a key piece of infrastructure in the mid-west like railways and motorways. “I expressed the strong view that marketing the airport and the region needs to be improved to that end,” he adds.