Here is everything we know about the Waterford Airport meeting
Ministers John Cummins, Darragh O'Brien and Mary Butler
Minister of State John Cummins has said he will hold the Minister for Transport to account on Waterford Airport.
The Waterford News & Star asked the Minister for State about Wednesday’s long-anticipated meeting about the airport with the Department of Transport.
While information was sparse following the meeting, it is understood that the meeting did not go as well as local parties had hoped.
Minister Cummins said the airport is in the Programme of Government and there is therefore a commitment to deliver on it.
“I will be working with and also holding Minister O’Brien to account to deliver on those commitments that are in the programme for government,” said Minister Cummins.
Commenting on the meeting, Minister Cummins said: “There was a frank exchange of views, but the important thing, I think there is a pathway forward. The Secretary General was very clear that the project has to follow the transport infrastructure guidelines, as every transport project has to.
“And I suppose we can argue over the process which I have been doing for the last three months with the minister and the department or we can roll up our sleeves and provide the department with the information they require in order to make a positive decision in relation to this project, which is so important for Waterford and the entire south east region,” said Minister Cummins.
The guidelines, the Minister explained, are called “gateways”. Those, he said, consist of strategic assessment, preliminary business case, detailed business case and procurement strategy and final business case.
Minister Cummins said the outcome was not unexpected.
“The airport has already been working on information in that respect in anticipation of moving into this next step. So they are ready and awaiting that detailed guidance now," said Minister Cummins.
The meeting on Wednesday, July 2, was attended by both Waterford’s Ministers of State, Chief Executive of Waterford City and County Council Sean McKeown and Council Director of Services Michael Quinn, as well as the Secretary General, Head of Aviation, Principal Aviation Officer and the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien.
The Waterford News & Star revealed last week that the meeting was arranged with Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien “to find a clear pathway forward to deliver the runway extension”.
A statement after the meeting from Waterford City and Council said that “there was a constructive, frank and robust exchange of views and the meeting allowed for Waterford City and County Council to set out the Local Authority’s position as a key stakeholder in Waterford Airport’s future.
“‘While support for the project was expressed by Minister O’Brien, the Department requested that a Business Case be submitted with updated infrastructure guidelines, as per the Public Spending Code.”
It was confirmed that Waterford Council were to meet with the Waterford Airport Board of Directors in the coming days to discuss next steps.
A Department of Transport spokesperson similarly told the Waterford News & Star: “The Programme for Government commits to work with all stakeholders to quickly progress the Waterford Airport project to lengthen and widen the runway" and that "next steps for progressing the project are being considered".
However, on Friday morning, Minister of State and Government Chief Whip Mary Butler told WLR FM’s Damien Tiernan that the Department of Transport said the document was not a business case at all.
That is despite the document being referred to as such by local officials and senior members of the Government alike.
Further information was sought and received by the Department of Transport in the following July.
“So the story is that the department, in their opinion, does not believe it was a business case. And the title of it is The Waterford Airport Capital Expenditure Strategic Assessment Report. So that was what was submitted to the department.
“And what they also said, and I quote, 'It was not in the format that was requested.’ Now I’m only quoting what was quoted back to us. So we need to get to a situation where we work with the hand that is dealt to us. We have a spending code that is ironclad.
“But from what I understand, the next step is a strategic assessment, and a preliminary business case makes up 90% of the final business case. That is my understanding, and all of the information that has been submitted will make up what they need, but they are still saying that a business case was not submitted as per the guidelines of the spending code,” said Minister Butler.
Minister Butler said she would not argue with Damien Tiernan when he suggested it could take a year for the project to go through the gateway process.
And that, as costs have gone up since the €12 million investment was announced in December 2023, the project could cost significantly more.
However, the Minister also said she did not expect funding to be a problem as there was money put aside for regional airport projects.
Reacting to the outcome of the meeting, Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane expressed disappointment.
“We hoped that the meeting would move things on and the funding would be given, obviously that’s not the case,” he said.
“It seems the delegation was told that a new business case aligned with the public spending code would now be needed. I see this as a delaying tactic.”
Deputy Cullinane said he doesn’t predict any funding being made available this year.
“I can’t envisage a situation where a full business case can be turned around that quickly, so we are looking at, in my view, another prolonged delay in getting an announcement of funding,” said Deputy Cullinane.
