asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he will undertake the erection of warehouses in the customs-free portion of Shannon Airport in order to stimulate the use of the free airport for international freight traffic.

asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce what steps, if any, are being taken to develop the free airport facilities at Shannon with a view to the development of Shannon Airport as an international clearing station for air freight between Europe and America.

As indicated in my reply to Question No. 67, there has, so far, been no evidence of the existence of a demand for the use of the customs-free airport facilities at Shannon. In the absence of such demand, it is not proposed to undertake the erection of warehouses in the customs-free portion of the airport.

The customs-free airport at Shannon has received wide publicity in Europe and the United States, but, so far, there has been no indication of a demand from commercial interests to utilise the airport as a clearing centre for air freight. Until there is concrete evidence of such a demand it would not be advisable to incur expenditure on the further development of the facilities already in existence.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary satisfied that the period of trial has been sufficiently extensive?

Only the future can tell that. However, up to the present there has not been any particular demand, with the services available.

Does that govern the Parliamentary Secretary's reply to the previous question?

It governs the reply to both questions.