He refuses to condemn Hamas.

By early 2025, we will have a new Government and a new European Commission and Parliament. Over the coming months, big policy decisions will be made that will shape our future until 2030 and beyond. As a country we are running to catch up on infrastructure required for a growing population. When it comes to airports, which are critical to our success as an island nation, the passenger cap at Dublin Airport has highlighted the abject failure of aviation policy, leading to an embarrassing public row. This daft situation continues while opportunities and solutions at Shannon and Cork airports are ignored.

Shannon Airport has the infrastructure and capacity to handle 3 million more passengers. Likewise, Cork Airport has the capacity for an additional 2 million passengers. Ireland does not have an airport capacity problem, it actually has a policy problem. That should be turned into a national opportunity. By addressing the policy issues Ireland can transform its national airport network into a cohesive system that supports balanced regional development and enhances national connectivity.

Dublin Airport has severe constraints. At times it is choked with passengers and clogged with slow excess, car parking and accommodation issues. Ireland is struggling to meet binding decarbonisation targets. Of the 7 million journeys between the west of Ireland and Dublin Airport, almost 4 million are by inbound tourists destined for the west of Ireland. These tourists would prefer, and should be able, to land at Shannon Airport rather than travelling to and from Dublin.

Shannon Airport's catchment area contains 38% of the population but accounts for only 4% of Ireland's airport traffic. We are relying on Dublin and the already strained infrastructure of Dublin city to accommodate 86% of air traffic. This is happening despite the fact that the primary objective of 40% of passengers is to visit locations beyond Dublin. This situation is inefficient and imprudent.

Failing to utilise fully and maximize the current potential of Shannon and Cork airports which can immediately handle an additional 5 million passengers is not only short-sighted but in the current atmosphere and climate is irresponsible. As an island nation we can no longer afford the risk of one airport becoming a single point of failure. Shannon airport is the under-utilised resource that can immediately assist with constraint problems.

We must deliver a national aviation policy that brings passengers to where they wish to go. That will relieve congestion in Dublin and deliver connectivity to the Shannon region, including north Tipperary. It will further stimulate tourism and bring about investment and economic growth in the region. We have three major State-owned airports, Dublin, Shannon and Cork. Talk of capacity constraints is an artificially created bind created by the tunnel vision of our aviation policymakers. We must take the opportunity to review strategy and set out a strong, sustainable policy for the development of Irish aviation across the regions.

I thank Deputy Lowry for this important question in relation to aviation policy and indeed the role of Shannon Airport. More broadly, on the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, as the Deputy knows this arises from a 2007 condition attached to planning permission for terminal 2. I do not believe a 17-year-old decision holding back growth in 2024 to be a sustainable situation. I engaged with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on this to see if there are any options open to the Government, even in the short term, to try to mitigate the negative impacts or indeed accelerate the resolution of the underlying problem. I will come to the issue of the regions specifically. However, I am sitting beside the Minister for tourism who quite rightly reminds me of the fact that so many of the visitors who land in Dublin Airport travel to the regions. Around 38% of people landing in Dublin are heading west. Of the 250,000 people working in the tourism sector, around 70% of them are in the regions outside of Dublin. I very much get the point in terms of the importance of balanced regional development. Of course, a plane landing in Dublin in many ways benefits the entire country as people spread out across our island.

The development of Dublin Airport as a secondary hub airport with the necessary capacity to connect key existing and emergent global markets is a longstanding policy. However, it is important to the Government that we ensure sustainable development of Dublin Airport. We must ensure the balance of our objectives in the national aviation policy with the needs of business and tourism interests and the legitimate rights of local residents as well. We have seen about €124.6 million allocated to regional airports over the course of this Government's term alone. Around €47 million has been allocated to Shannon Airport since this Government came to office. Shannon Airport is currently eligible for funding under the new regional State airport sustainability programme. There are no capacity constraints at Shannon Airport or indeed at any of our regional airports. In 2023, Shannon Airport passenger numbers were 1.96 million, an increase of 22% on 2022. Indeed, last year saw the highest level of passengers in Shannon Airport since 2009, which is an encouraging sign. Ryanair recently announced increased services for the 2024 winter schedule at Shannon Airport with a 5% increase over the capacity it offered last winter.

That is about 30,000 additional seats. I assure Deputy Lowry that our national aviation policy recognises the strategic importance of Dublin Airport but also seeks to optimise the operation of the Irish airport network to ensure maximum connectivity with the rest of the world. Shannon Airport has the capacity to grow to 5 million passengers even within its current infrastructural footprint. The additional passenger capacity can be utilised to maintain and enhance connectivity to the west, north west and midlands and to facilitate charter flights, sporting events and additional scheduled services that cannot be met at Dublin Airport. There is a real opportunity for Shannon Airport to achieve its potential to expand services and meet currently unmet demand. It also has the option of the US preclearance facility, which is a huge resource. We are confident of Shannon Airport's future and eager to continue to support its growth.

The Taoiseach said Shannon has improved, which it has, in terms of passenger numbers and additional capacity, but it needs support, help, political and ministerial direction and the support of airlines to take up its level of capacity. This issue is also about supporting business which needs direct connectivity from its base in the mid-west to Europe and further afield and stopping the waste of time and carbon on long road journeys. People who start a journey by air are doing three or four hours on our roadways. It is about having an aviation policy that supports Dublin as a base for global connectivity and ensure passengers who want to fly to the regions can get there directly. Shannon already, as the Taoiseach said, has the infrastructure and facilities. It can resolve the constraint problems currently in Dublin. It has first-class infrastructure, which is underused, in a location to which people want to go. Shannon has the longest runway in Ireland and one of the longest in Europe. It has everything going for it but the problem is we are not getting political direction to ensure that whatever incentives are required, we take the pressure off Dublin, redirect it to Shannon and Cork and utilise the facilities there, which are part of our national infrastructure

I thank Deputy Lowry. To reiterate my position, which I am not saying is that of the Deputy, I do not see it as a choice between the passenger cap at Dublin Airport being resolved and the growth of our regional airports. Frankly, we need to do both. This is an island; air connectivity is important. In fairness to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, who has responsibility for this area, he has been to Shannon Airport three times already over the summer. I hope that is seen in the region as a sign of his commitment and that of the Government to Shannon Airport. The Deputy is right; this airport has significant infrastructure. It already has capacity to grow further within the confines of that infrastructure. It has good leadership. I had the pleasure of meeting the chief executive when I was down there to see President Zelenskyy a couple of months ago. It has a US preclearance facility. Passenger numbers are growing, with the highest passenger numbers at that airport since 2009. We see airlines like Ryanair making a decision to significantly expand the number of seats going to Shannon Airport this year by approximately 30,000. We will work with the Deputy. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, to keep in touch with him on this matter.

I thank the Taoiseach. That concludes Leaders' Questions for today.