Cullen silent on airport row resolution

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen is refusing to say when he believes the row over the €160 million debt for Cork Airport's new terminal will be resolved.

At the beginning of the month, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin, in whose constituency Cork Airport lies, said he was hopeful of "an early resolution" to the terminal dispute following discussions he had with Mr Cullen.

But the chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) Gary McGann told a press conference a fortnight ago that the separation of Dublin, Cork and Shannon's airport authorities would take at least another year.

That would be three years later than originally promised by Mr Cullen's predecessor as Transport Minister Seamus Brennan.

Cork Airport Authority is opposed to shouldering any of the terminal debt, as Mr Brennan had promised it would not have to.

There was speculation that the DAA's warning was an attempt to force Cork into accepting some, or all, of the debt.

The legal and financial issues involved mean the more debt Cork agrees to repay, the sooner it is likely to gain independence.

But Mr Cullen's reluctance to say the dispute could be solved quickly suggests the problems with the separation plan will take a considerable length of time to work through.

Asked if a solution could be found more rapidly than the DAA had forecast, a spokesman for Mr Cullen said: "What the minister wants to see are three strong State airports.

"There are difficult issues there to be resolved. We all want to try to resolve them as soon as we can."

Asked if the minister could provide a deadline, the spokesman said: "No."

Under company law, the DAA cannot hand over Shannon or Cork to the State unless it has sufficient distributable reserves, or retained profit, to match the value of the airports.

Cork and Shannon have a combined value of €300m, but the DAA's cash reserves, at €142m, are less than half that. The DAA says if it has to pay Cork's debt in full, this will inhibit efforts to build up the reserves, and Cork will therefore have to wait longer for independence. Alternatively, Cork can agree to take some, or all, of the debt, and be granted autonomy sooner.

The DAA is also facing difficulties at Shannon, where its attempts to push through a €30m restructuring plan have met with resistance from trade unions.

The DAA is the State company which replaced Aer Rianta, and has control over both Cork and Shannon.

Meanwhile, the Seanad is set to debate the implications of the break-up of Aer Rianta on both Cork and Shannon airports on Wednesday.

The Labour Senate group secured the debate under private members' time following a request by Cork city councillor Ciarán Lynch.

"We're not saying that Dublin Airport should be saddled with all the debt," Mr Lynch said.

"What we are saying is that Cork and Shannon must be given a clean sheet if they are to have a fresh start."