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The government has been asked to consider extending state aid to Shannon and Cork airports

Could aviation be used to promote regional growth?

THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD consider extending state aid to Shannon and Cork airports to help them better compete in an air travel market that is dominated by Dublin.

That’s one of the key recommendations of a study commissioned by Limerick Chamber – in conjunction with Shannon, Ennis and Galway chambers – on how aviation policy affects economic development in Ireland’s west and mid-west regions.

The report, written by Danish consultancy Copenhagen Economics, suggested that the capacity expansion programme at Dublin Airport to help it grow from 30 million passengers a year to 40 million and address infrastructural bottlenecks will make it more difficult for other airports to maintain existing routes and passengers.

Responding to the report, a spokesman for DAA – which operates Dublin and Cork airports – said much of the rapid growth at the country’s main hub “has not been at the expense of other airports in the State”, and highlighted Dublin Airport’s growing transfer business.

The study also suggested that aviation policy is not adequately reflected in regional business development plans, which could jeoparadise the government’s commitment to balance economic growth across the country as outlined by Project Ireland 2040, the national planning and capital expenditure blueprint.

The Exchequer offers financial supports to smaller private airports – such as Ireland West Airport in Knock, Co Mayo – but not to Shannon and DAA-owned Cork airports, though they are eligible for financial support under EU rules as they cater for fewer than three million passengers a year.

“The net effect of being unable to access state support for Cork and Shannon is the creation of an uneven playing field with smaller privately owned regional airports within the catchment area,” the report stated, referring to overlaps in the passengers and airlines that use regional airports.

NO FEE LIMERICK CHAMBER COPENHAGEN ECONOMICS MX-2 Copenhagen Economics' Christian Jervelund with Catriona Cahill and Eoin Ryan of Limerick Chamber Maxwells Dublin Maxwells Dublin

At a presentation of the key findings of the report, which was presented to Shane Ross, Limerick Chamber chief economist Catriona Cahill said state aid would used for capital expenditure rather than operational costs in order to attract new business.

The report also recommended that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport conduct a cost-benefit analysis of providing funds for airlines to develop routes outside the capital of strategic importance to foreign direct investment (FDI).

Though study highlighted Dublin’s dominance over other airports – it accounted for 86% of all traffic in 2018, up from 76% a decade before – Cahill and Copenhagen Economics managing partner Christian Jervelund stressed that it does not argue for sacrificing Dublin Airport’s growth plans for the sake of regional hubs.

Instead, they suggested that regional airports should be developed to handle excess capacity from the capital in order to entice further FDI in the west and mid-west.

“This is not a Dublin versus regional airports argument. We need Dublin to grow, but we need it to do so in a sustainable manner,” Cahill said.

“Dublin is at maximum capacity in so many ways. We’ve bottlenecks with regards to housing, we’ve road congestion because of infrastructure issues, so we want to relieve pressure on Dublin by utilising this under-utilised capacity in other parts of the country.”

The report also highlighted that Shannon Airport will be without a regular daily connection to another EU hub after Brexit given the fact that its Heathrow services are the only direct daily flights.

It suggested extending seasonal services to Frankfurt Airport to two flights every weekday and one flight every Saturday and Sunday could provide an additional €412 million to the economy. 

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Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie

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    Mute 087 bed
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    Oct 26th 2024, 8:04 AM

    RSA and not fit for purpose, NCT is a shambles, driving test is a nightmare, road conditions are a mess, So with that record I’m sure it will get increased funding and powers.

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    Mute Peter J H
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    Oct 26th 2024, 8:59 AM

    @087 bed: what’s wrong with NCT?

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    Mute Toca Stories
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    Oct 26th 2024, 9:14 AM

    @087 bed: nothing wrong with the nct.

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    Mute Sun Rise
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    Oct 26th 2024, 11:12 AM

    @087 bed: Nothing wrong with the NCT and road conditions are far from a mess. They have never been of a better quality. You keep whinging and moaning if it helps you excuse the miserable life you created fir yourself.

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:11 PM

    @Sun Rise: Lol! 75% of deaths happen on roads that have been the same size for 100s of years. The utopian society you mention is in your head.

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    Mute Alex
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:13 PM

    @Thesaltyurchin: Road size doesn’t matter. Another uneducated turd like you spreading BS.

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    Mute Alex
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:14 PM

    @Thesaltyurchin: if you drive like a turd, you will crash, period. And Irish are definitely bad drivers with a licence so easy to obtain it’s a joke,

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:20 PM

    @Alex: Yea those octogenarians are a real speed hazard, lol! Stay on the bus Alex.

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    Mute Jason Walsh
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    Oct 26th 2024, 11:28 PM

    @087 bed: And they’ve lazily used GDPR to stop access to accident data which is vital information for road safety engineering, not one other European country used that excuse. Don’t scrap the RSA just get them to do their darn jobs. Fire folk if needed.

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    Mute Kangaroo Kev
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    Oct 26th 2024, 8:24 AM

    How come no one is asked where the money is spent? How much are they paying staff, CEO ect.

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:17 PM

    @Kangaroo Kev: Did we not pay attention the first time around. The governments policy is a “campaign of awareness” so 100s of millions in advertising space and media time to keep beating the same drum, over and over… it’s never worked, will never work but is a great cover for actually doing anything in the transport space, maybe thats why we haven’t built ANY infrastructure in 20 years!! 20 years and people on here are like ‘the road quality has never been better’, mind boggling. I agree with the author tho. usually in ireland when we berate something for not working it’s because it’s underfunded in the first place, never really has a chance to work. (also a shrewd business strategy but, I digress). We need leaders of vision, no jobbing accountants looking to play with numbers. People who can build the roads/trains/services we need and then organis everyone accordingly… never happen

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    Mute Sami Hentunen
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    Oct 26th 2024, 8:51 AM

    I would personally blame the actions of an unsafe driver for killing a pedestrian on a pedestrian crossing.

    Government and RSA can nanny all they want, but if the drivers don’t take personal responsibility for their apalling driving and stretching the rules nothing will change. The selfish driving and not considering the other road users is the norm. Many drive on the physical limits like unruly children, and instead of personal responsibility we have speedbumps which seem to be the only way to control the speeds that really has any effect.

    “Crap driving kills”.

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    Mute Mitchell
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    Oct 26th 2024, 7:46 AM

    Leo is incorrect, the RSA are not being disbanded. The mundane stuff like vehicle registration, testing, etc. will be under a different body. Road safety will still be the RSA’s remit. The biggest issue is the lack of management & accountability within the organization. Doubling penalty points is unlikely to have that great an impact. You can pass your test at 17 and you never have your driving skills tested again! About time a ten year retest or training required for all drivers.

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    Mute Karen Marten
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    Oct 26th 2024, 12:56 PM

    @Mitchell: absolutely staff for ncts and driving tests need retraining . Every time go for nct there is always 1 or 2 with bad attitudes and failings for silly little things . They not happy doing the same job over and over then they fail u .

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:21 PM

    @Karen Marten: ‘fail you for silly things’… like you fail the test or you dont I would have thought?

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    Mute Bills n Stuff
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    Oct 26th 2024, 7:39 AM

    RSA are a joke, they need to go, or be fully replaced. What have they done or what campaign have they launched this last few years???

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    Mute Joe Kelly
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    Oct 26th 2024, 9:23 AM

    @Bills n Stuff: typical, blame rsa because drivers don’t want to drive within the law. These divers are adults but need to grow up.

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    Mute james lynch
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    Oct 26th 2024, 10:28 AM

    @Joe Kelly: 60% drop in road deaths since 2007, introduction of ADIs, introduction of compulsory training. They can’t enforce the laws and people need to take responsibility for their own actions.

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:23 PM

    @james lynch: The irony is that our numbers are down yet we’re still screaming at each other, beautifully played marketing department.

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    Mute Colm O' Shea
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    Oct 26th 2024, 7:47 AM

    The RSA been disbanded is not about getting rid of the functions, it’s about breaking it into to seperately organisations. 1 to look after driver testing etc and 1 to solely focus on road safety.
    The government is saying the RSA is bogged down with testing and doesn’t have enough bandwidth for safety.
    Whether true or not, it’s not a ridiculous idea to allow an organisation to focus on specialist area

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    Mute D Farrell
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    Oct 26th 2024, 9:03 AM

    @Colm O’ Shea: I agree that the two new bodies to replace the RSA are a good idea, as each needs to have different supervisory and management styles. One process and mechanical, the other more marketing and infrastructure focused.

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Oct 26th 2024, 9:15 PM

    @D Farrell: So we are going to end up with two very expensive QUANGO s instead of one??. RSA are a useless outfit except for those who work in it,– surely a great organization for all of them. The money that they spend should go to providing a fully dedicated Roads Policing Service with plenty of cars and motorcycles and jeeps travelling on all roads and pulling over the dangerous drivers . I’m not a great fan of fixed penalties, just haul them before the Courts and dish out suspensions ,– put them off the roads for 6 months .

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    Mute Paddy Whelan
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    Oct 26th 2024, 8:46 AM

    Anyone who is handed a driving ban of more than 3 months should have to retake their driving test. Also no going back to court to have their licence restored before the ban has been served.

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    Mute ZQxm3oeu
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    Oct 26th 2024, 9:23 AM

    @Paddy Whelan: I’ve always wondered that. If someone clocks up 12 points and loses their license. When can they get it back? Three years or when the furthest points come off their license? They should have to do theory and lessons and test again! But

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    Mute Tom Newell
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    Oct 26th 2024, 10:27 AM

    I have yet to see one article where the RSA ever called out the state of Irish roads, oh wait silly me they are funded by the state so wont bite the hand that feeds them…..we do need an RSA just not one thats clearly not another bloated quango like RTE, Irish Water etc

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    Mute james lynch
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    Oct 26th 2024, 10:29 AM

    @Tom Newell: more or less self funded so check your facts

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    Mute Brian D'Arcy
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    Oct 26th 2024, 11:15 AM

    The ‘republic’s’ solution, get rid of something, give it a different name performing in the exact same manner. Quango’s galore with management on ridiculous money, it will never change. Maybe get more Gardaí on the roads, oh, sorry, thou shall not accuse McEntee of complete and utter incompetence.

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    Mute Nigel McAtamney
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    Oct 26th 2024, 11:05 AM

    Drive LicenceTesting, and it’s current format should be removed from the RSA in its entirety. It’s outdated and unfit for purpose. So many variants of basic controls from different manufacturers, it’s an area where it’s getting quite hard to deliver universal instructions.

    Some of the newer smart cars will tell you when the car is ready to change gear where the rsa instructor disagrees and marks it down as bad gear transition. This is only one example of where instructors are having problems with newer technology in vehicles.

    I also don’t believe the theory test covers enough driver safety. This surely should be one of the areas where a driver must do a dedicated safety session, possibly as long as two hours, incorporated into the driving lessons portion of obtaining one’s licence.

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    Mute Bernadette Mulvihill
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    Oct 26th 2024, 4:28 PM

    Working in the industry and teaching and experiencing 1st hand what people do to us and other road users is disgraceful.. The whole area needs to be looked at. People don’t follow rules of the road, if they did things would be different. How many people run stop signs, red lights, zebra crossings, break speed limits, its actually crazy watching this behaviour every single day. All this needs to be addressed. More traffic police for every violation of the rules of the road needs to be out there. Not just in cities, all over the country. More cameras needed. Drivers from other countries need to be educated also. It’s all a shambles and it just goes on and on. We are the people on the ground and we see what needs to be done so why do the RSA not…….!!!!

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    Mute Derek Lyster
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    Oct 26th 2024, 3:12 PM

    Poor driving is a huge factor in a lot of crashes. Driving out of town yesterday and someone on a motorbike overtook me doing a wheelie while they were speeding, like wtf, did he/she think they were cool or were they trying to impress someone? If I had a dashcam I would 100% give the footage to the Gardai. Some of the driving you see is actually scary and every county should have a 24/7 traffic corps. Education clearly isnt getting through to some people so enforcement is the only way to get through to them.

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    Mute Thor24/7
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    Oct 26th 2024, 10:51 AM

    There are at least two local road sections near me where somebody has almost been and others will be killed due to both road and driver error. Is there a forum or hotline to draw attention to these.
    Lusk

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 26th 2024, 1:29 PM

    @Thor24/7: Watching two lorries try to pass each other on a regional road last week, some poor granny got too close and the lads had to jump down to reverse her car… mad sh!t Was thinking the same at the time, there should be a way to communicate hazardous roads, but that would sort of be highlighting the lack of investment so not sure what organisation would do that to themselves. They would need to be in governemnt to improve society as opposed to individual or party gain (which is what we have) Maybe if set up by the public, could be quite successful Thor! Would be shocking tho

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    Mute R. Gantly
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    Oct 27th 2024, 1:03 AM

    Government will privatise RSA functions as someone sees dollar signs in it …NCTS for instance !!. They are already kite flying that it’s loosing 20 million a year….LOOSING 20 MILLION !!

    This is the same road we went down with Irish Water and it failed.

    Privatising any part of the RSA will end in disaster. The RSA is fit for purpose. Our lilly livered government isn’t.

    Typical bull like gardai wasting time trialing a truck to see if it works when they could have just got 12 of them and get straight at it !!!! But no, government won’t provide the funding. The is what’s wrong , no courage , no out of the box thinking and no urgency doing anything while people die.

    Drew Harris is the man to blame here , he should be SCREAMING for funds, he’s not.

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    Mute Eugene Comaskey
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    Oct 26th 2024, 8:59 PM

    Absolutely the RSA should be shut down, it is like the HSE,– a top heavy orginasition paying huge money to CEO and C/Man and members of Boards . Another useless QUANGO . They waste huge money of useless adverts on RTE and making video’s etc. what is required id strengthening of Road Policing by getting more cars manned by Gardai out onto the roads and stop all this crazy driving . But sure the Government cannot get young people to join the Guards because they won’t pay them decent wages .Hopefully a new Government and new Minister for Justice and an Irish Commissioner might change things for the better .

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