Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says that Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was personally abusive when he called him an idiot on RTE’s Today with Claire Byrne programme.
In a riposte on the same programme Minister Ryan has expressed concerns about noise levels, regional development, and the impact on climate change, emphasizing the need for the aviation industry to play its part in reducing emissions through the use of biofuels and SAF.
“The scale of change we need to make is based on the science, which is so clear, and everyone needs to play their part.”
“I don’t think politically and policy wise, we will address this by turning into a moral imperative that forces people to fly or not fly.”
“The really big issue here is the issue around climate change, in my mind. We are in a day when the European Commission is going to be coming out setting the European target for 2040, which is a dramatic reduction, a 90% reduction in emissions.”
“There are concerns about regional development. We all know we are very lopsided in the country. All the development that is happening in Dublin, we need to see it happening in Shannon and Cork and elsewhere.”
“I do want to set out some of the issues but not specifically on the cap as I do have to be careful as Minister for Transport. That will be decided by Fingal County Council first of all and by An Bord Pleanála and I think it’s absolutely right that my colleagues, our local councillors, Green party politicians and others have raised some of the concerns they have.”
