Waterford Airport runway extension
Deputy Cullinane argues the Waterford Airport runway extension needs urgent funding and says local authorities are already contributing. The Tánaiste says the earlier €5 million commitment was contingent, the detailed business case arrived only in December, and current costs are much higher, so public spending rules must be followed.
I too want to raise the issue of the funding application from Waterford Airport towards the runway extension. I have been fair-minded when it comes to Government funding for projects in the south-east and in Waterford but I have to put it to the Tánaiste that there is an urgency in relation to this funding application. There is huge pressure on Dublin Airport. We need a counterbalance in the regions. It is make-or-break time for the airport in Waterford. It either gets this funding or it does not. Three local authorities in the region - Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny - are putting money up, private sector investment is coming and the missing piece is funding from the Department. I have spoken informally to the Minister for Transport and I do not get the sense that there is an urgency from him or from the Department. I appeal to Deputy Micheál Martin, as the head of his party and Tánaiste, and I appeal to the Taoiseach, to bring an urgency to this because if the funding is not forthcoming, I do not see a future, or a viable one, for that airport. I ask the Tánaiste, in the interests of regional development, to look at that issue.
Comment on this
As the Deputy knows, and as I said earlier, in 2019 the then Government agreed €5 million in funding towards a runway extension project. The estimated cost then was approximately €12 million and that €5 million was contingent on local authority and private investment necessary to complete the project being committed. It said at the time any risks relating to cost escalation would be borne by the non-State investors. The situation has changed now.
Everyone is talking about urgency but the detail remained outstanding until 13 December 2023 when Waterford Airport submitted a capital expenditure strategic assessment report to the Department of Transport. The Department is currently assessing this report, submitted on 13 December last.
Comment on this
The real meat of this came in December last. Neither of the Deputies mentioned that, but that is the reality. What that is clearly saying is that the €12 million cost is no longer a relevant overall cost. Apparently, the cost is closer to €26 million. There is a public spending code.
