Ryanair call on government to 'axe the tax'

Ryanair today called on the Irish Government to axe the passenger travel tax of €10 imposed on passengers travelling out of the country. The call came in response to the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) announcement earlier in the month that Dublin Airport's August passenger numbers fell by 15% YoY, a drop of 364,000. Ryanair believes that the decline in passenger numbers at Dublin is as a direct result of the €10 travel tax and "high / increasing passenger charges at the Govt owned DAA monopoly".
In a recent question in Dail Eireann (Parliament), Clare Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen asked the Minister for Finance , Brian Lenihan if he planned to review the €10 travel tax in light of the recent losses at Aer Lingus. In his response to Deputy Breen, the Minister in defending the imposition of the tax stated that Ireland was not alone in applying a tax on air travel, citing the UK, France, Australia and New Zealand adding that the Irish rate compared favorably with other countries. Minister Lenihan also stated that the travel tax constituted a part of a larger purchasing decision (for passengers) and that the tax "shouldn't have much of an effect on tourist numbers". He further rejected the theory that the tax is impacting on passenger numbers, contending that the woes of the airline industry are as a result of "weak world economic activity". 
Minister Lenihan summed up by saying that "We currently face significant financial challenges and the air travel tax is an important revenue raising measure. I tried to be as fair as possible in looking at areas for additional tax revenues. It is also worth noting that fuel used by commercial airlines is completely exempt from tax, so it's a sector that already has considerable preferential treatment. I have no plans to review the air travel tax."