Debt u-turn could cripple air authority

When the Government announced the break up of Aer Rianta in 2003, then Transport Minister Seamus Brennan promised the airport authorities in Shannon and Cork would start independent operations debt-free.

But now it seems the Government is reneging on the promise and trying to saddle Cork Airport Authority with half the debt for its new €160 million terminal.

The terminal has been badly needed for years and on the basis of the Government’s promise it was constructed. It is due to open on May 10.

If the Cork Airport Authority has to pay €80m for the terminal, it will mean raising landing charges and passenger fees, as well as car parking charges.

It was always going to be difficult for the airport to function in a commercially viable way, but this unforeseen debt could prove crippling.

The current Transport Minister Martin Cullen, who has acquired an unenviable reputation for muddle and spin, has been involved in some of the most extravagantly wasteful projects this country has ever witnessed, such as €60m already squandered on electronic voting machines that have not yet been taken out of storage, or the €52m spent on the purchase and refurbishment of Farmleigh House, as well as his extravagant expenditure on public relations consultants and foreign junkets.

The minister has been as adept at publicising himself, as he has been inept in his ministerial performance.

During the last year he waged a publicity battle with the self-destructive minister of state at his department, Ivor Callely, and overrode the advice of his officials to announce a park-and-ride facility for his own constituency.

In 2002 the Government promised to introduce 69 penalty point offences by 2003, but there are still only four offences in place.

When Eddie Shaw, chairman of the National Road Council, highlighted the disastrous performance in relation to road accidents, he found his position so undermined by the department he resigned in November. This was not just some kind of inconsequential bureaucratic squabble but a question of life and death on our roads.

The death toll on the roads has continued to soar, thereby highlighting the ineptitude of the minister and his department.

It may seem a bit unfair to single out Mr Cullen, because tackling the problem properly requires the co-operation of other departments, but he seems ever ready to assume responsibility at the sight of a microphone.

The Government last year entrusted him with the announcement of the €36 billion restructuring of our transportation system. Yet his department is now suggesting at the outset it cannot find €80m of the €160m promised for Cork Airport.

The Government initially recognised the need to help to launch the independent Shannon and Cork Airport Authorities on a sound financial basis, but it is now trying to renege on the promise.

Cork’s Lord Mayor Deirdre Clune has called on all 10 members of the Oireachtas from Cork to meet today to provide cross-party support to ensure the airport is accorded a viable start.

It is intolerable that the Government should renege on it promise and try to saddle the new Airport Authority with such a crippling debt. This is not the way to do business.