Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Impact on Aviation

Mr. Ray Gray:

Statistically, there is no doubt that there is less travel coming in and out of Ireland than is the case for any of our European counterparts. That is because of the calls that have been made for very understandable reasons, from a policy perspective. Our focus is on the fact that we are going to have to live together with this virus into the future. Therefore we have to learn to operate in a risk-managed environment. I would like to quote, if I could, from the World Health Organization. I think this guidance is still on its website. It essentially states that significant restrictions are very useful and effective in the very beginning of an outbreak but they have to be based on proportionate measures. Hence, it is important to find mechanisms to coexist into the future. That will be about health policies. It will also be about travel policies and about the actual mechanisms of travel for the passenger who is getting on the aircraft.

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