Junior Transport Minister responds to criticism of Waterford Airport comments

Junior Transport Minister James Lawless has issued an extensive statement this afternoon in relation to the Waterford Airport project appraisal.

In the Dáil this week, following a Parliamentary Question from Waterford Independent TD Matt Shanahan, Minister Lawless likened the business case to buying 'a pig in a poke'.

He also suggested the region is already well-served when it comes to transport.

His comments attracted criticism and his Fianna Fáil party colleague, Minister for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler, said she was "deeply disappointed".

This afternoon, Minister Lawless said in a statement issued by the Department of Transport:

I understand the importance of connectivity to the southeast region and I am actively considering the Waterford Airport proposal in this context.
It is Government policy to spread growth across the regions and expanding air connections and developing the regional airports is a key part of this programme.
Minister Mary Butler and other local representatives have been strong advocates for this.
I want to give this project the best possible chance of success.
Three times in the course of the Dail debate last week I repeated my willingness to engage with the stakeholders to advance this project.
My door is open if representatives from Waterford Airport wish to engage with me directly on any of the matters concerning the airport.
I want to give the project the best possible hearing and the recent debate has prompted significant engagement, which I welcome and which was perhaps lacking up to now.
Under the public spending code, the project can only be assessed under the business case already presented, and unfortunately, some key points now being argued are simply not contained within the business case.
A business case for Waterford Airport expansion was submitted to my Department in late 2023. This followed an approval in principle in 2019 which was dependent on further information, however the expected proposal did not follow until last December 2023 with further requested data only being submitted by the airport as recently as July 2024.
My Department has now completed its initial assessment of the detail submitted by Waterford Airport. This assessment was recently submitted to both Minister Ryan and I for our consideration – and I am actively considering it at present.
I am a big supporter of the regional airports and wish to grow aviation beyond Dublin.
As I have said repeatedly, I reserve an open mind on the matter. However the project can only be assessed based on the information supplied and I have a duty to perform rigorous scrutiny of all proposals which involve tax payers money.
The assessment has highlighted a number of weaknesses in the development proposal. For example, evidence shows a sharp decline in passenger traffic through Waterford Airport over the period 2009-2016 when passenger services ceased. Any future investment would therefore need to be contingent on significant evidence of demand and industry commitment to operate services on larger aircraft, such as would justify the proposed lengthening of the runway.
While the processes governing capital investment projects are onerous and rigorous and may take considerable periods of time to execute to the required standards, it needs to be recognised that Waterford Airport is currently in a position to operate scheduled passenger services without any major runway extension.
Indeed, the existing runway can facilitate propeller plane services which are successfully operated at other airports currently, including for example, on services operating out of Donegal, Kerry, Cork and Dublin airports to the UK and France.
Waterford Airport could commence these scheduled flights without any runway extension or significant new investment.
In fact, this model would qualify the airport for State support already.
Next steps could involve inviting Waterford Airport to submit a Preliminary Business Case in line with the requirements under the Infrastructure Guidelines (previously known as the Public Spending Code). It would be imperative at that stage that a robust past and future detailed demand analysis is provided by the Airport.
I want to give this project the best possible chance of success.
The best possible way to do this is for stakeholders to engage on the detail.
I am inviting all of the stakeholders to avail of this opportunity.