New airport deal a ‘sell-out’, says Dooley

The creation of independence for Shannon Airport without a proper dividend from its international duty-free company has been condemned as a ‘sell-out’ by Deputy Timmy Dooley.
Deputy Dooley expressed strong criticism of the new model for Shannon Airport in the Dáil this week after he outlined that approximately €600 million has been transferred from Aer Rianta International (ARI) into the coffers of the Dublin Airport Authority.
The Clare Fianna Fáil deputy tabled an amendment to the Government’s plans to separate Shannon Airport fully from the DDA, provided that ARI is incorporated in the new independent Shannon Airport Authority.
However, this amendment was defeated by 85 votes to 36 with the help of Clare Government Deputies Joe Carey, Fine Gael and Labour Deputy Michael McNamara.
Deputy Dooley recalled ARI was established by the management of Shannon Airport to support activity at the airport. The international business was grown out of Shannon and for Shannon.
“The Dublin-centric approach of the Dublin Airport Authority over the years has meant that much of the profit associated with Aer Rianta International has been put to the use of Dublin Airport. Aer Rianta International’s stake in Birmingham Airport was sold for over €230 million in 2007.
“Those funds were used as base capital, in effect, to secure additional borrowings for Terminal 2. Over the course of a decade, approximately €600m has been transferred from Aer Rianta International into the coffers of the Dublin Airport Authority,” he said.
However, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar defended the Government’s decision to leave ARI under the control of the DAA.
From the time separation of the State airports was mooted in 2004, Deputy Varadkar said it has been the intention of successive Governments that while the debts associated with the business of Shannon Airport would remain with the DAA, ARI would also remain with it.
He stated Aer Rianta International is an integral part of the DAA group and the DAA’s balance sheet, funding and credit rating are reflective of the group’s business, including Aer Rianta International.
“Being part of a larger group allows Aer Rianta International to access funding necessary for its ongoing expansion by borrowing against the assets in Dublin.
“I would prefer the Shannon Airport Authority to use borrowing to develop Shannon Airport rather than overseas businesses.
“Even if it was desirable to transfer Aer Rianta International out of the DAA, it would damage the latter’s viability if it was done as part of the Shannon Airport separation process.
“In short, if the DAA’s financial viability was compromised as a result of separating Shannon Airport, separation could not happen.
“Both Shannon Airport and the DAA post-­separation must be viable. That is the law,” he said.
He was supported by Deputy Joe Carey, who described this as a “legacy issue” as the option of ­setting up ARI as a subsidiary of Shannon Airport was blocked by the Dublin Airport Authority years ago.
He accused some elected representatives of trying to maximise this issue for political gain, despite his contention they “stood idly by as Shannon Airport fell further and further down the pecking order of the political agenda”.
“The only commercial option at this point is to leave Aer Rianta International as part of the Dublin Airport Authority if Shannon Airport is to begin life debt-free. In time, a prosperous Shannon Airport will see this decision as a necessary one and initiatives similar to Aer Rianta International can be established under the new structures.
“I am not interested in political games. I want all key stakeholders in the region to get behind this plan for Shannon Airport and the Mid-West.
“As the minister has outlined, without serious action, there would be a question mark over the viability of Shannon Airport in remaining as a 24-hour-a-day international transport hub. The time for empty rhetoric and unrealistic demands is over,” he said.