Cork Airport to make a formal Government submission seeking LUAS connection
Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy told the Irish Examiner that the regional hub needs better connectivity as it undergoes a €200m expansion over the next decade. Mr MacCarthy said it is crucial that a Luas connection is added to existing plans for Cork's light railway network.
'We are supporters of the Cork Luas and love the east-west route, but we will be submitting a paper to Government, as part of the consultation, that there should be safeguarding for a spur out to the airport.
'We'll be saying: 'You need to mark out a plot now', such that you'll have a future route to the airport from that east-west Luas. Because nobody will forgive us in 20 years' time if there is no Luas spur to the airport.'
Cork Airport is Ireland's fastest-growing airport and will serve 3.4m passengers this year, having grown its passenger base by over 50% in the last decade. The airport is forecast to see passenger numbers growing to 5m in a few years, DAA said.
While Mr MacCarthy envisages plans for a Luas to the airport in the future, he said the facility badly needs a better public transport service immediately.
'We believe we're inadequately served by public transport,' he said. 'We're big fans of Bus Éireann, but we would like 24-hour services. Our busiest time in the morning is 6am. Those people are coming to the
airport at 4am or 4.30am.
'There's no bus services, so therefore we'd like 24-hour service from Parnell Place up to the airport. I think that would be well used by staff and passengers for late flights and early flights. The Bus Éireann 226 and 225 are great services, but there is scope to give us more services.
'We'd also like better regional connectivity from the regions. We'd love a Killarney service to be stopping off at Cork Airport after it goes into the city. We'd love a Kilkenny service stopping off, and a Waterford service. We'd like those buses after they come to the city to come up to the airport. Because we've no vested interest in cars, we want people as much as possible to use public transport.'
Meanwhile, DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs said a Cork-Dublin air route is 'always possible'. The route was last served in 2011, and in the previous decade was served by both Ryanair and Aer Arann.
Niall MacCarthy: 'We'd love a Killarney service to be stopping off at Cork Airport after it goes into the city. We'd love a Kilkenny service stopping off, and a Waterford service.'
'It's always possible, you know, nothing's ever gone for good,' said Mr Jacobs. 'What kind of killed it was too much capacity and too big aircraft. An ATR aircraft, a smaller aircraft similar to that serving Cork-Glasgow by Emerald Airlines, could do it. And there is a type of business user in particular who would use it. I can absolutely see it coming back.
'Look, it comes down to the airline that wants to do it. The road to Dublin is good, the train is good. But as the city grows, I could see it coming back as a form of transportation between Cork and Dublin.'
Kenny Jacobs, Chief Executive of DAA said a Cork-Dublin air route is 'always possible'.
Investment of €200m at the airport was announced at the weekend, with investment in passenger facilities, including a new mezzanine floor in the terminal which will begin after the summer; a new security screening area; a new and larger duty-free shop; enhanced executive lounge facilities; new airbridges; a long-term car park extension; new boarding gates; airside equipment enhancements; and a 1.7Mw solar farm over the existing Holiday Blue car park.
The ambitious programme will conclude with the demolition and replacement of the old terminal and control tower, with a new pier and extra aircraft parking stands to significantly increase overall airside capacity.
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Irish Times
16 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, August 9th: On traffic solutions, landlords, Dublin Bikes, and taking the rap
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There is potentially a better way, and we have a golden opportunity to plan for a sustainable future for our capital city as opposed to spending billions filling a gap that may not be the best solution for future generations of transport users. It's a big leap, but at least let us have a conversation free of prejudice, where the opinions of a billionaire are just as valid as those of the man on the Clapham omnibus. – Yours, etc, HUGH McDONNELL, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Sir, – I don't understand why certain well-to-do people have a problem with the idea of having the MetroLink built. The Harcourt Line in Dublin was closed in 1958 by Seán Lemass because the car was deemed to be supreme. In hindsight, it was a retrograde step. Also, there was a total underestimation of south Dublin's population growth. The same could be said today. Public transport has improved in recent years and more and more people are availing of it. 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RTÉ News
20 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Over €66m unclaimed from Deposit Return Scheme
Irish consumers last year turned their back on €66.7m when they failed to cash in their deposits for drink containers through the Government's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). That is according to the 2024 annual report for Re-Turn which shows that the failure by consumers to redeem the €66m worth in deposits for their drink containers was the chief reason behind the State-backed firm to record a pre-tax surplus of €51.3m for 2024. Established by Government, Re-Turn went live with its Deposit Return Scheme operations on 1 February 2024 with the aim to significantly increase the recycling rates of bottles and cans. Last year, 877.85m containers were returned made up of 433.2m plastic bottles and 444.6m cans. The annual report shows Re-turn recorded revenues of €114.4m in 2024. This included the €66.7m in unredeemed deposits and €47.7m made up of €17.2m from the sale of material and €30.5m from 'producer fees'. The annual report discloses that the income from unredeemed deposits has resulted in a VAT settlement by Re-turn of €23.7m. The company's 2024 costs totalled €62.2m made up of direct collection and recycling costs of €46.5m and administrative expenses of €15.7m which included a spend of €4.6m on 'marketing, communications, and public awareness'. The report states that the €66.7m reflects the recognition of unredeemed deposits for the financial year and "this is after a €36.5m estimate of deposits expected to be returned post year end". The report states that "unredeemed deposits are an expected and routine scenario for deposit return schemes and it was anticipated that in the initial transition period redemptions would be low and therefore there would be a high level of unredeemed deposits". The report states that "as a not-for-profit organisation, in the early stages of our maturity, the fees from unredeemed containers are being reinvested in a number of ways". These include paying off initial scheme set-up costs; infrastructure development; consumer education campaigns and contributing to its legally required contingency reserve. The report adds that income from unredeemed deposits "is expected to significantly reduce as the scheme reaches its targeted redemptions of 90% in the coming years". The report states that "in the long term, should unredeemed deposits be higher than forecast, we would support initiatives that drive increased adoption of the scheme as well as investing in broader innovative projects designed to further the country's circular economy strategy". The report states that Re-Turn closed the year with a cash balance of €89.8m. The report states that this cash figure will reduce significantly in 2025 when several significant draw-downs are scheduled and after accounting for these factors the adjusted cash balance would reduce to approximately €32m. The significant draw-downs include a VAT settlement on unredeemed deposits of €23.7m; a provision of €13.8m for Re-Turn's contingency reserve fund; a settlement of the remaining €11.7m balance of the facility agreement with Bank of Ireland grant settlement of c.€3.2m to retailers in respect of 2024 and a provision of €5.4m for corporation tax arising on surplus in the scheme. In comments attached to the report, Re-Turn CEO Ciaran Foley stated: "Thanks to the incredible buy-in and adoption from the Irish public, 877 million containers were returned through DRS in 2024, equating to an average 66% post transition period recycling rate. "The seasonality of the soft drinks market was reflected in some even higher months, such as in August when the return rate reached 75%. Every 1% increase equates to around 19 million containers, and we recorded some daily returns of over 5 million products over the Christmas period." Chair of Re-Turn Tony Keohane stated that the launch of Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in February 2024 marked a defining milestone in the country's journey toward a more sustainable future. He said: "From a standing start in Autumn 2022, the scheme collected more than 877 million drinks containers in its first 11 months. In that short time, we've seen Irish consumers recycle more bottles and cans than ever before and do so in a way that produces high quality recyclate, helping build a truly circular economy."
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Irish consumers generate €66m for Re-Turn by not redeeming deposits
Irish consumers last year turned their back on €66.7m when they failed to cash in their deposits for soft drink containers through the Government's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). That is according to the 2024 annual report for Re-turn which shows that the failure by consumers to redeem the €66m worth in deposits for their soft drink containers was the chief reason behind the State-backed firm to record a pre-tax surplus of €51.3m for 2024. Established by Government, Re-Turn went live with its Deposit Return Scheme operations on February 1, 2024 with the aim to significantly increase the recycling rates of bottles and cans. Last year, 877.85m containers were returned made up of 433.2m plastic bottles and 444.6m cans. The annual report shows Re-turn recorded revenues of €114.4m in 2024. This included the €66.7m in unredeemed deposits and €47.7m made up of €17.2m from the sale of material and €30.5m from 'producer fees'. The annual report discloses that the income from unredeemed deposits has resulted in a VAT settlement by Re-turn of €23.7m. The company's 2024 costs totalled €62.2m made up of direct collection and recycling costs of €46.5m and administrative expenses of €1.5.7m which included a spend of €4.6m on 'marketing, communications, and public awareness'. The report states that the €66.7m reflects the recognition of unredeemed deposits for the financial year and "this is after a €36.5m estimate of deposits expected to be returned post year end". The report states that "unredeemed deposits are an expected and routine scenario for deposit return schemes and it was anticipated that in the initial transition period redemptions would be low and therefore there would be a high level of unredeemed deposits." Special bins for rejected cans have been installed beside some machines The report states that "as a not-for-profit organisation, in the early stages of our maturity, the fees from unredeemed containers are being reinvested in a number of ways. "These include paying off initial scheme set-up costs; infrastructure development; consumer education campaigns and contributing to our legally required contingency reserve." The report adds that income from unredeemed deposits "is expected to significantly reduce as the scheme reaches its targeted redemptions of 90 per cent in the coming years". The report states that "in the long term, should unredeemed deposits be higher than forecast, we would support initiatives that drive increased adoption of the scheme as well as investing in broader innovative projects designed to further the country's circular economy strategy". The report states that Re-turn closed the year with a cash balance of €89.8m. The report states that this cash figure will reduce significantly in 2025 when several significant draw-downs are scheduled and after accounting for these factors the adjusted cash balance would reduce to approximately €32m. The significant draw-downs include a VAT settlement on unredeemed deposits of €23.7m; a provision of €13.8m for Re-turn's contingency reserve fund; a settlement of the remaining €11.7m balance of the facility agreement with Bank of Ireland grant settlement of c.€3.2m to retailers in respect of 2024 and a provision of €5.4m for corporation tax arising on surplus in the scheme. In comments attached to the report, ceo of Re-turn, Ciaran Foley has stated: "Thanks to the incredible buy-in and adoption from the Irish public, 877 million containers were returned through DRS in 2024, equating to an average 66 per cent post transition period recycling rate10." He said: "The seasonality of the soft drinks market was reflected in some even higher months, such as in August when the return rate reached 75 per cent. Every 1 per cent increase equates to around 19 million containers, and we recorded some daily returns of over 5 million products over the Christmas period." Chair of Re-turn, Tony Keohane stated that the launch of Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in February 2024 marked a defining milestone in the country's journey toward a more sustainable future. He said: "From a standing start in Autumn 2022, the scheme collected more than 877 million drinks containers in its first 11 months. In that short time, we've seen Irish consumers recycle more bottles and cans than ever before and do so in a way that produces high quality recyclate, helping build a truly circular economy." Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
