The country is somewhat weary of reports that the Government is close to a decision on the issue of a second terminal at Dublin Airport. There are further newspaper leaks today to the effect that this is imminent. When Senator Mary O'Rourke was Minister for Public Enterprise she recognised the need for more capacity back in 1999. The programme for Government promised a second terminal and the former Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, promised a decision in early 2003. For the past nine months, the current Minister, Deputy Cullen, has been saying the decision would be made shortly.

The Government has dithered about the issue for a very long time. Can the Taoiseach confirm that the Cabinet will make a decision today? Will he elaborate on the answer he gave yesterday in Warsaw when he said he wanted a longer and greater vision for the airport, not just for the road or second terminal but all developments that feed into Shannon, Cork and the regional airports? He overflew that particular runway when asked about his view on the second terminal. Will the Government make a decision today in respect of the issue?

Is the favoured site located on land owned by the Dublin Airport Authority? Is it true that Fingal County Council, in its county development plan, does not recommend the DAA site as suitable? Did the Skidmore Owens Merrill report, commissioned by the Dublin Airport Authority, not recommend against the site? If the Cabinet decides that the terminal should be built on the DAA site, either the cargo terminal or the former Team Aer Lingus building, now a high-tech facility, will have to be knocked down at a cost of €70 million.

Is the Government about to make a decision in a similar manner to that made with regard to the M50? In its longer vision of future need for the airport it is proposing a terminal that will be obsolete on the day it is opened.

The Government will discuss these matters today and make a decision shortly, whether today or next week. Dublin Airport Authority is quite clear about the site that it wants and Fingal County Council does not disagree. It believes it is the proper site and the correct location. The authority has always been clear about the issue. A second terminal is needed because the numbers passing through Dublin Airport are greatly increasing. It was predicted that the numbers would reach 10 million to 12 million by the end of this decade, but the figure is already 17 million and people are now predicting 30 million and over.

However, it is not just a question of a second terminal and there is a number of other considerations such as road and transport access, what happens to landside areas, the use of pier D and maximising the usage and turnaround time of planes. There are also issues with regard to Shannon, the ongoing work in Cork and regional airports, equity into Aer Lingus and a host of other aviation matters. The Government has been in consultation with all of these bodies over the past number of months trying to make a decision for the long-term and not just for now.

I presume Deputy Kenny is tongue in cheek when speaking of the M50. It is a good joke now but in 1991 the experts were not sure whether it would work and if enough people would use it. People were concerned after the first six months and thought it might perhaps be a white elephant. It is part of the problem with much of what we do in this country, and not just in the political system. People are almost afraid to plan for the big picture because if one does not get it right one is strongly criticised.

The bowl was one such example.

Nobody in 1991 said that private money was a huge rip-off because many people thought that the Roche family was insane to put money into something that might not work. Of course, now everybody sees it the other way around. One cannot have it both ways.

The Taoiseach should return to the issue of Dublin Airport.

I will answer the question that Deputy Kenny asked.

He will refer to it. This is a daily occurrence.

We are not looking at what might be the issue this year or next year, but forward to ten or 15 years, which is the right thing to do.

With regard to the airport, it would have been cheaper a number of years ago to build it to accommodate 30 million people, but everybody said the maximum figure before 2010 would be 10 million or 12 million. We should not play games with this issue. The reality is that we have to try to provide for 30 million or 40 million users.

The Taoiseach might have raised the matter but he did not answer the question. I give him two marks out of ten for wandering all over the place on the issue.

Deputy Kenny, without interruption.

Will the Taoiseach confirm that the Cabinet is about to make a decision in respect of a second terminal on the grounds currently owned by the Dublin Airport Authority? Is that to be the decision? A total of 18 million people passed through the airport in 2004 and there has been an 8% growth for the first quarter of 2005. It is obvious to me, who was hauled out of the Guantanamo shuffle last week for a random search, that the Taoiseach has not passed through that line for a very considerable time as he is escorted, being a privileged person doing his duty, through the airport. He does not know what people have to put up with.

I will give him an example of investors who came into this country last week. When they went upstairs, downstairs and through all the corridors to the point where their luggage is returned to them, in an overcrowded room with a low ceiling, they asked if this is the first welcome to this country as business people, investors or holidaymakers. What the Taoiseach is about to do now, apparently, is to make a decision to build a terminal that will be inadequate by 2010.

The State authority has a very poor record in building infrastructural projects. Will the Taoiseach outline the economic projects on which he will base his decision? How long will it take to build this terminal and is it to be on the ground owned by the Dublin Airport Authority? I agree with the Taoiseach that there appears to be no difference now between himself and the Tánaiste. She started out with her party, whose members are now absent except for one Minister of State and a Deputy——

And a former Minister.

——on the basis that they wanted an independently run and managed terminal. The Taoiseach's far-off vision for a third terminal appears in language that is very waffly. While there is no difference between the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on the issue, this is a Fianna Fáil decision, that will be inadequate by 2010, on the basis of running over his smaller counterpart in Government.

When the Government makes a decision, there is a process by which it is announced. That process will be followed in this matter. I do not intend to provide a trailer of the decisions that will be made — I will not get into that.

Pier D is to be finished by 2007 and the terminal by 2009. The capacity will be 30 million passengers. On current projections, by the end of this decade we will be on 20 million. The existing terminal's capacity is 20 million. At peak times there is a problem but most of the time there is not. On the question of the decision, it is a DAA decision. The statutory decision lies with the Dublin Airport Authority. We know what is its recommended site but the Government does not direct the DAA. The legislative base of the Dublin Airport Authority is that it makes that decision. It is not for the Government to make that decision.