I return to the issue Deputy Harty raised regarding Shannon Airport. While the Taoiseach made some encouraging noises in his response, any replies to parliamentary questions to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport indicate that Government policy is not to support Shannon, despite the fact that the Government can do so under EU rules on foot of the passenger numbers.

Basically, there is an incongruity between aviation policy and planning policy in respect of regional balance and the importance of connectivity to a region. Will the Taoiseach ensure that support is given to Shannon Airport, as he appeared to indicate he might do, particularly as he can do so under European rules? In addition, will he review aviation policy to ensure that it ties in with the policy of achieving more regional balance in this country?

There are many ways to support airports. The State can aid them through capital expenditure grant, CAPEX, and operational expenditure subvention, OPEX, schemes or it can provide them with route development and marketing supports. That has been done in the past for Shannon and is open for consideration again.