Ms Mary Considine:

We are in ongoing dialogue with officials in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on this matter. We see the restoration of air services as absolutely crucial to support business and tourism. In that regard, we made a submission that supports be put in place to restore those key services. Similarly, we have sought capital funding for the airport. Due to the fact that fewer than 3 million passengers fly through Shannon and in line with EU state aid guidelines, we would be entitled to Exchequer funding for safety and regulatory capital. That was a significant cost burden on the airport even prior to the pandemic but now we are not in a position to sustain that level of capital going forward and we have sought support in that regard.

We have also sought support for a number of liquidity measures for the airport. The continuation of the wage subsidy scheme is obviously really important but we also sought an extension of the commercial rates waiver. We note that it has been extended but we would have liked it to be for longer. Those support measures are very important to try to preserve liquidity as we recover from this crisis.