Transport official to be quizzed over Shannon fiasco

DEPARTMENT of Transport secretary general Julie O’Neill will be asked to appear before a Dáil committee to answer questions about her department’s handling of Shannon Airport’s loss of its Heathrow slots, it has emerged.

The committee held its first substantive private meeting yesterday, where the main issue of concern for a number of members across party lines was the decision by Aer Lingus to axe its Shannon to London Heathrow service and the department’s response.

The committee, under new chairman Frank Fahey, decided it would ask Ms O’Neill and other senior officials from her department to appear before it.