Coalition rift over Dublin Airport expansion
The latest row involving the Coalition partners began when Transport Minister Martin Cullen announced at the IMI conference in Co Wicklow yesterday that he would be bringing an “integrated package” on the status of Aer Lingus and expansion plans for Dublin Airport to the Cabinet next week.
When asked about the details of the package, Mr Cullen said his own view was that a majority stake in Aer Lingus should be sold off, a decision that would be non-contentious with the PDs.
However, when asked about the proposed second terminal for the airport, Mr Cullen contended that the State should not cede ownership of an “important piece of key capital infrastructure.”
That prompted a sharp response from Tánaiste Mary Harney that it was “not helpful” for Mr Cullen to make such comments in public.
It also led to a flurry of diverging briefings from Fianna Fáil and PDs sources.
Sources within the majority Government party played down the controversy, while asserting that the debate on the future of Dublin airport was close to resolution and might be completed in a matter of weeks.
On the other hand, sources within the PDs contested this view that the Government was close to a “done deal” saying there were still outstanding questions to be resolved.
However, Minister Cullen yesterday qualified his statement by hinting that even if the second terminal remains in State ownership, that does not mean that its operation could not be managed by the private sector.
The Tánaiste has repeatedly said that ownership of the terminal was not the key issue as long as the second terminal was in competition with the existing terminal at the airport.
It seems that the differences between the Cabinet parties may centre on the exact nature of that competition.
“People are out there saying this thing is virtually resolved. That is not our understanding,” said a PD source.
“Competition is the zone that we should be in. But in terms of where we are going in terms of agreement and resolution, other people are playing it up. There have been so many false dawns on this. Most have been media led. This is not a done deal yet.”
For their part Fianna Fail sources said: “Martin Cullen give his own view. He said he favoured State ownership of the new terminal but did not rule out competition when it came to the operation of it.
“I really do not think we are very far apart. I think that will become clear when the deal is done.”
The opposition parties played up the difference as an indication of a fundamental Cabinet split.
Fine Gael’s Transport spokesperson Olivia Mitchell said it showed the depth of the Cabinet division on aviation policy.
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