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Ireland West Airport at Knock Ireland West Airport Knock via Facebook

Calls for government to protect future of Knock Airport

Concerns have been raised about the future of the airport in the wake of the government’s proposals to secure the future of Shannon Airport.

A LOBBY GROUP based in the west of Ireland has called on the government to back proposals that will protect the future Ireland West Airport at Knock in Mayo.

The Council for the West lobby group wants the government to invest some €75 million in the airport over the next five years in a bid to secure the jobs of the 150 people directly employed at the airport.

The council claims that this employment supports an additional 900 jobs in the region and provides an annual tourism and related spend of €117 million in the west of Ireland.

The future of the airport is currently being studied by an Oireachtas committee.

Ireland West Airport has put forward proposals to the government to secure what it calls an “expansion in routes and aviation related business” on foot of plans announced for Shannon Airport last year.

These plans included the merging of Shannon Airport and Shannon Development with the creation of 850 new jobs in a bid to make the loss-making airport profitable again and increase passenger numbers.

Ireland West Airport has estimated the total cost of this package for Shannon Airport is some €300 million including €100 million of debt financing and is concerned that this will be at the expense of the facility in Knock.

The Council for the West said that government policy should be developed in a way that is fair to both airports and it hopes a process outlining a timetable of development for the airport can be concluded by the end of June this year.

“The Government has recently received excellent proposals from Ireland West Airport,” said Sean Hannick, chairperson of the Council for the West.

“These proposals should be supported and we believe there should be a high-level implementation plan setting out how the Government particularly can assist Ireland West Airport in securing its aviation, enterprise and regional development objectives.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Transport Minister Leo Varadkar met with officials from Ireland West Airport in January and agreed that a study should be carried out to develop “strategic growth options for the airport”.

The study is being chaired by local Fine Gael TD John O’Mahoney who is also the deputy chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee. The report is due to be presented to government at the end of May.

Previously: Ireland West Airport Knock threatens legal challenge over Shannon plans

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43 Comments
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    Mute simonjblake
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    May 8th 2013, 1:43 PM

    Surely this is condidential contractual information between a renter and landlord?

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    Mute Peter McGlynn
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    May 8th 2013, 11:53 PM

    …And revenue.ie?

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    Mute ginger tomcat
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    May 8th 2013, 2:00 PM

    in large areas this info is not so useful, finding an average rent for Dublin 2 two bed apartments is fairly meaningless, no distinction of brand new vs 30 years old, more expensive parts of post code vs less expensive. could be extremely misleading if at too broad a level, possibly worse than no info

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    Mute fizi_water
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    May 8th 2013, 2:25 PM

    I agree 100% unless they post prices with pictures together and also some detailed info of features and square size of living area, then it makes more sense and only then gives you fair idea. Usually the golden rule works in real estate: you get what you pay for..

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    Mute Doc Benway
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    May 8th 2013, 9:27 PM

    no more misleading than the constant claims from daft that rents are rising (lies) this survey shows rents are actually falling in Dublin, and is certainly more trustworthy.

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    Mute Peter McGlynn
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    May 8th 2013, 11:52 PM

    It certainly seems that rents are rising. Was away for 6 months and struggled to find apartment. Third less apartments on market now than a year ago.
    This is a great step in the right direction . If ur in a block of apartments built at the same time this is very useful!

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    Mute Brian Stokes
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    May 8th 2013, 1:47 PM

    This information is key as it ensures transparency which prevent bubbles, speculation and the best value for all. It’s also not private information as all income is taxable and some people also receive state supports with their rent. All in all this is a good development.

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    Mute Peter McGlynn
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    May 8th 2013, 11:55 PM

    Zegakly! Openness and transparency is for the good of all.

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    Mute Marc Power
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    May 8th 2013, 1:39 PM

    More snooping by government agencies I would imagine to try to get more money from people rather then trying to apply Amy real rules to the sector

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    Mute Begrudgy
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    May 8th 2013, 2:25 PM

    I don’t think this is snooping. I’d say this has more to do with Rent Allowance being paid out by the state. It’ll give the government an idea on rents in a certain area and see if money can be saved.

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    Mute Damocles
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    May 8th 2013, 2:39 PM

    This is confidential information.

    Unless it’s in some way anonymized or averaged over an area it’s a violation of personal financial information.

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    Mute the lost lenore
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    May 8th 2013, 4:41 PM

    This is a good thing. The private rented sector is the wild west of the property market. Half the landlords out there are either reluctant buy-to-let types without a clue of even the basics of business or fast buck merchants with a devil-may-care attitude to Residential Tenancies Act. The fact the the majority of cases in front of the PRTB are for illegally held deposits, 92% of flats in a recent investigation failed to meet even minimum legal standards (which are pretty damn low) and the fact that a sizable chunk of landlords out there that seem to think that because the are renting out property the laws of the land do not apply to them means that any move to regulate this sector is welcome.

    The sector is unprofessional, legal standards are not enforced, prices vary widely (and are usually down to an individual’s negotiating skills or lack thereof) and the end product is both bad and overpriced. This is a disincentive to living and working in Dublin and needs to be addressed. Possibly the only worthwhile thing Labour have done in government so far.

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    Mute Heber Rowan
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    May 8th 2013, 2:23 PM

    I support this. It provides for greater transparency all around. Let’s not hope the data gets manipulated…

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    Mute Deirdre Maher
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    May 8th 2013, 6:37 PM

    I know people who because of rent changes have now made agreement with their landlord to say the rent is a certain amount ( allowed for ur family size by the rent section) and then pay extra cash in hand to the landlord , so they don’t have to move yet again as its so hard to find houses within ur allowance and area u want to be in . I think the rent section and the councils should work together and buy property’s and rent them to tenants so in the long run the money goes into housing which the councils and sate own instead of paying landlords forever more ..

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    Mute Floodzie
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    May 8th 2013, 3:31 PM

    Not sure about the accuracy of this… No data for 1 bedroom apartments in Rathmines or Ranelagh (I thought there would be lots of those type of places there) yet the average rent of a 1 bedroom apartment in Wellington Dublin 6W is 1188.89 per month??!!

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    Mute Mikeee
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    May 8th 2013, 4:49 PM

    It seems like this might be a good idea. If they did a survey of asked for rents and paid rents, they could a: get a better idea of how much people are able to pay, and b: give rental property owners a better idea of what rents they should be asking for. I’ve always thought it was odd that rents aren’t based on what people, individually, pay but rather, are based on the average rents paid over large areas.

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    Mute Tracey Spencer
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    May 8th 2013, 11:39 PM

    Have you tried to use the system? Not very easy to use……..

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    Mute Michael Skellig
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    May 11th 2013, 6:09 PM

    This is a serious breach of privacy. I don’t want people knowing how much rent I pay. It’s none of their business. What if an employer found out someone was paying very little rent and decided to deny a pay increase?

    I think this is just another way of exposing people to the Revenue.

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