COMMENT

MICHAEL O’Leary’s tactics as Ryanair boss haven’t exactly endeared him to those in the airline industry who operate to more conventional, conservative business methods. However, the darling of the flying public that has come to enjoy and take for granted the option of low fares, is not one to care a whit about what others think.
Michael O’Leary’s bottom line is all about passenger numbers and operating only on profitable routes. He makes a lot of demands and is good to his word when he says he will or will not do something. He has shown this by chopping and changing services at Shannon, Dublin, London and several continental airports to take full advantage of more lucrative destinations.
For a long time, the Ryanair boss has been complaining bitterly about the Government’s €10 travel tax and the airport charges imposed at Shannon. He wants the removal of the tax, which is levied on passengers at all Irish airports and a 50% reduction in its costs at Shannon, which he claims would reflect the 70% decline in average fairs that Ryanair has suffered at the airport over the past five years.
Ryanair has now drawn a line in the sand on the issue; stating that it will proceed to cut its Shannon-based aircraft next summer from four to one with the loss of 150 Ryanair jobs and a loss of 1.5 million passengers, unless the €10 tourist tax is removed on or before February 1 and Shannon Airport Authority extends the airline’s cost base on a competitive basis for a further five years.
On the issue of airport charges, Shannon Airport has steadfastly argued the point that Ryanair’s proposed terms for an extension of its cost base are unrealistic and is not prepared to make any further concessions.
It would be a cruel blow indeed if Shannon is to lose a huge chunk of business from an airline that, last year, accounted for 60% of the airport’s passenger traffic. All possible means to avoid this must be explored.
Whatever about people’s views on the airport charges deal that Ryanair has benefited from at Shannon over the past five years, there is broad agreement in the Mid-West that the €10 travel charge is an impediment to attracting visitors through the airport.
Business interests, prominent among them the Irish Hotel Federation and other tourism promotion groups, are adamant that the charge should go. They are not necessarily endorsing Ryanair in taking this view, as the charge applies to all airlines.
The Government doesn’t accept Ryanair’s assertion that the travel tax is causing massive damage to Irish tourism, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said on a recent visit to Limerick.
With the Budget just three weeks away, the Opposition is increasing pressure on the Government to have a rethink on the €10 levy. Local Fine Gael deputies, Pat Breen and Joe Carey have been to the fore in this regard, both highlighting the negative impact which the charge is having on the economy of the region.
While one doesn’t expect the Government to offer any major concessions to Opposition submissions, perhaps the general outcry over the €10 charge might be taken on board.  Is it worth it when compared to the loss of business it could be held accountable for?

Laptops over school buildings?

A TEACHING laptop, software and a digital projector is on the way to every primary and second-level classroom in the country over the next three years, as part of a new €150 million Government investment to help Irish students become more IT proficient.
It sounds great and Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe had the media lapping it up when they announced the initiative in a blaze of publicity at a Dublin primary school on Monday.
In unveiling a new report Smart Schools = Smart Economy, Mr Cowen said, “The Government recognises the need for investment in this area and it’s committed to providing funding to support ICT in teaching and learning in our schools.”
Mr O’Keeffe believes the international average of five computers per classroom will be achieved in Ireland inside the next three years.
Hold on a minute though.  Have the Taoiseach and Minister O’Keeffe not got ahead of themselves on this one, a rush of blood to the head before the dreaded December 9 Budget?
Certainly computers and broadband connectivity in every classroom is something to aspire to but in every aspect of education, there are fundamental building blocks that cannot be bypassed in one giant leap. You have to learn your ABCs before you can read or write and how to count before you can add or subtract. Those two examples are even a step too far ahead if we are to have a modern, top-rate education system.
Before brand new laptops are rolled out to classrooms across the land, there’s a lot of ground to be made up in terms of the standard of our school buildings. If school principals, teachers, students and parents who have been waging war with the Department of Education over sub-standard buildings and unwanted, but very necessary, pre-fabs are asked for their preferred option, there is no question but that they would gladly survive without a new computer package in favour of a proper roof and four walls.
Taoiseach Cowen has denied that the initiative would be detrimental to the Government’s school building programme. Both he and Minister O’Keeffe have defended the Government’s record in investing in new schools and extensions. Certainly, there is evidence of this in County Clare but there is also a very long list of schools in the county that are still in desperate need of attention.
What’s worrying about the brief details that formed the announcement of the computer plan is the fact that the €150 million for the scheme will require a further add-on of a €30 million annual budget for support, rolling replacement and enhancement of the service.
The Taoiseach and his Education Minister must be sure that they have got it right in balancing the books on this issue. If not, a lot of schools could, quite literally, come crumbling down due to lack of capital funding.