The Minister for Transport said he intended that the legislation dealing with the break-up of Aer Rianta would be enacted before the Dáil's summer recess.
Mr Brennan said he had numerous Government discussions informing his Cabinet colleagues on the background issues as well as outlining the financial projections for each of the airports compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Some issues of both a legal and financial nature remain to be finalised, and I will be returning to the Government shortly when these issues are clarified."
The Minister insisted that the new arrangements were designed to strengthen and expand each of the three airports and to give both Shannon and Cork a fresh start. "Through more focused commercial operation, all three airports can perform better and each can play a greater role in stimulating and supporting regional and national economic activity to the benefit of their customers, both airlines and passengers, and of Irish tourism, trade and industry."
The Labour spokesperson on transport, Ms Róisín Shortall, said that when the Minister had announced his intention to break up Aer Rianta last summer, she had forecast that he could not meet the timetable and she was still of that view. "In recent weeks, we have seen further consultants' reports which confirm earlier reports that there is no business case for proceeding with the break-up of Aer Rianta."
Mr Brennan said that the Government had set out a 12-month timetable for the completion of the process, ending in July 2004. "It is May 2004 and I am still of the view that it can be completed within the 12-month schedule envisaged by the Government. Regarding consultants' reports, the PricewaterhouseCoopers assessment is a series of working papers. I did not ask it to give me an assessment of whether restructuring was a good idea. I asked it to lay out on a factual basis the financial information available to it."
Mr Pat Breen (FG, Clare) asked Mr Brennan asked if there was a five-year plan for the airport and if he had instructed Aer Lingus to submit a plan. Mr Brennan said he had met with the central representative council for all the trade unions in Aer Lingus and conveyed his view that the company must do more and be more specific about precisely what it would do in an open skies connection.