Shannon Airport under review

WITH the appointment of Colm McCarthy to chair a new review group on State assets, concerns have been raised that Shannon Airport could be sold, to plug the gaping holes in Ireland’s finances.

Any move to dispose of Shannon would be sure to face opposition in the Mid-West, with fears that the airport being run for the benefit of private interests, rather than the region, could have serious knock-on consequences.
Last Thursday, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced Mr McCarthy’s appointment and an interim list was published of 28 commercial State bodies to be reviewed.
As well as the Dublin Airport Authority (which also has control of Cork and Shannon), some of the other bodies included are Irish Rail, Bord na Móna, An Post, RTÉ and Coillte.
The group is due to report at the end of the year and Mr McCarthy said that at that stage, it would explain its recommendations.
Its terms of reference include considering the potential for asset disposals, drawing up a list of possible asset disposals and assessing the use and disposition of how assets can best help restore growth and contribute to national investment priorities.
Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley said he didn’t believe that there would be any recommendation that Shannon be disposed of.
“It’s a key piece of infrastructure and I don’t think it’ll be seen as something that can be sold on for profit. I believe it will be very clear that it shouldn’t be privatised or sold,” Deputy Dooley said.
He said Fine Gael seemed to be in a state of some confusion, regarding its views on privatisation. “Leo Varadkar is advocating the sale of assets but rural deputies are dancing to a different tune. They need to get their policy straight,” he said.
Clare Fine Gael TD Pat Breen said that the strategic importance of Shannon could not be forgotten.
“I would be concerned that if the Dublin Airport Authority, for example, was sold off that it is Shannon and Cork that would be first in the firing line and I would have to question how these airports would be expected to survive if their umbilical cords were to be cut off completely, especially given that the Government has already deferred any decision on the separation of the airports because of the current economic recession.
“The role that semi-state companies play in regional economic development must be recognised and, where necessary, that role should be strengthened, not weakened,” Deputy Breen said.
While there will be a question mark over what recommendations will be made regarding the Dublin Airport Authority for months to come, a review of capital expenditure, which was published on Monday by the Department of Finance, offered some comfort for Shannon.
It made the case for cutting supports for smaller regional airports, while noting that the State airports (Cork, Dublin and Shannon) are not sucking up resources as investment in them “is financed by commercial revenues and airport charges and is not Exchequer funded”.
With regard to the smaller airports, it stated, “The focus of Exchequer investment has been on regional airports, which are located along the western and southern coast from Donegal to Waterford. To a large extent, the case for development of regional airports has been driven more as a supply, than a demand-led policy, inspired by regional development goals rather than to satisfy a latent demand in the market. The size of the public service obligation subvention required to keep many routes operational attests to this. For this reason – and given the much improved rail and road links to the major regional centres – it is prudent to reconsider the policy at this time,” according to the review.
Cutting these supports would remove one of the advantages that the country’s smaller airports have and might call the future of some of them into question.