The Minister for Transport has defended breaking-up airports operator Aer Rianta without business plans for the individual airports, saying that the new management boards being installed at Shannon and Cork Airports are best placed to develop and implement plans for their development.
Speaking ahead of the final day of debate on the State Airports Bill in the Seanad, Mr Brennan said: "The business plans are being undertaken by the new boards, [they are] the right people to undertake business plans are the people who are going to have to implement them."
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan
"I am fully committed to giving Shannon and Cork their commercial freedom. With State-owned companies running those two airports for the future they have a much better chance of survival than playing second fiddle to Dublin."
Last night the viability of the business plans being produced came in for criticism from Mr Brennan's predecessor, Senator Mary O'Rourke who said there was no plan for the break-up of the company.
The former minister for public enterprise said she was confident that the business plans, once produced, would be rejected by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
At the end of a six-hour debate on the issue, Mrs O'Rourke voted with the Government in support of the State Airports Bill which was passed at second stage.
Speaking on RTE radio this morning, Mr Brennan said the decision to break-up the State-owned airports operator was based on a strategic view following a number of Cabinet decisions. "The strategic view being that we have to build-up Shannon airport, and we have to build-up Cork Airport."
"The alternative scenario being offered to them of just receiving subsidies, staying quiet, settling for 10 per cent of the entire air business in this State, whereas Dublin has 90 [per cent]. That's no - future for two very fine airports."
"The future for those two fine airports is to go out and grow that business with strong regional leadership and that is why I am taking these reforms. They are difficult reforms but they are necessary reforms."