The government is examining a ruling that says the two-tier air travel tax was unfair and against competition rules.

The European Commission says the lower €2 tax in place for shorter air travel between 2009 and March of this year was unfair.

And it has ordered the Irish government to recover the advantage from Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Aer Arann and any other airline that benefited from it.

The travel tax was introduced back in 2009.

It was set at €2 for destinations up to 300 kilometres from Dublin and at €10 for all others.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny says the implications of the ruling need to be assessed.