‘The closest thing to highway robbery’

FIANNA Fáil TD Timmy Dooley has claimed that leaving Shannon without any claim to Aer Rianta International (ARI) is “the closest thing to highway robbery”.
Speaking on Wednesday evening, he also reiterated his view that leaving the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) umbrella is not good for Shannon.

“The entire separation process is a disaster. The region benefited from a subvention of €8-10 million and it still won’t be in a position to market Shannon any better. It’s a policy of turning your back on throughput and turning Shannon into a breaker’s yard,” he said, referring to the plans to bring industries like aircraft maintenance and recycling to Shannon.

“They’re talking about bringing in maintenance even as Aer Lingus is pulling its maintenance out and they are doing nothing to stop it. Unless they move quickly and show how it can happen, there will be no confidence in it,” Deputy Dooley added.

He said if ARI had been left with Shannon, the airport would have the potential for success. “If Shannon was separated from the DAA, debt free and retained ARI, then it would have a future. It could use the profits from ARI to underpin activity and subvent deals for airlines.”

Regarding the decision to leave ARI with the DAA, he said, “Considering ARI was born out of Shannon and developed in Shannon, it’s the closest thing to highway robbery”.

Fine Gael TD Pat Breen said there needs to be a “thorough and robust financial analysis” of plans for the separation of Shannon from the DAA and that the future of Aer Rianta International must be looked at.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ballynacally TD commented, “In relation to the future of the ARI operation, which is based at Shannon Airport and which is a subsidiary of the Dublin Airport Authority, the steering group which has been set by the Government has been given the remit to review and assess the DAA plan, when submitted, for the operational and readiness of the DAA group in a post-separation scenario.

“It is in this context that this group, who comprise members who have vast financial experience will assess whether the DAA, as indicated at the time of the publication of their annual accounts for 2011, would be loss-making were it not for the contribution of Aer Rianta International. It is important that a thorough and robust financial analysis of the entire DAA’s plan is undertaken before any separation goes ahead and that includes any proposals in relation to the future of Aer Rianta International.”

His party colleague Joe Carey said he had raised the matter with Transport Minister Leo Varadkar and drawn attention to the fact that ARI was established in Shannon. He said he was confident that Shannon would benefit from a financial arrangement in relation to ARI, given its history.

Labour party TD Michael McNamara said the question of ARI is academic at this stage, given that the decision to place it under the DAA structure was made years ago. He also said he would prefer if the matter could be revisited and ARI left with the new Shannon entity.