This article is from page 4 of the 2007-10-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has stated that any Govern- ment protection of Heathrow slots would be regarded by the European Commission as a special right, which would be challenged before the Eu- ropean Court of Justice.
The minister has also stated that the Aer Lingus withdrawal of its Shan- non-Heathrow service “does not re- quire that a fundamental review of our aviation policy be undertaken or that a Green Paper be published”.
He said, “The main objective is to ensure that the three State airports have sufficient capacity to respond to the growth opportunities of a com- petitive airline sector and to provide vital international access.
“In fulfilling this objective, it is pro- posed to establish Cork and Shannon as independent airports, once finan- cial and operational readiness has been demonstrated under the State Airports Act 2004. In addition, the six regional airports have a key role to play in promoting regional devel- opment.
“The further key components of our strategy are to ensure that our aviation safety and security policies comply with, or exceed, the highest international standards and that the policy framework for air navigation services ensures that the require- ments of airlines for efficient rout- ings and the avoidance of delays are met as far as possible without com- promising safety.
In response to a second question from Limerick East deputy, Kieran O’Donnell, Minister Dempsey was unable to give a date as to when Gov-
ernment funding will be put in place for the full implementation of the €53 million mid-west tourism and economic development plan.
On the decision by BMI not to proceed with a Heathrow link from Shannon, Minister Dempsey said, “The decision by British Midland that it would not commence a Shan- non-Heathrow service was made public on October 4 and reported in the media the following day. I was made aware two days previously, on October 2, that the decision was likely to be negative.