James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I apologise for interrupting but my time is limited. Everything the Minister has said is correct. It is quite clear that we have a chance to secure the future of the airport, increase its worth to the local economy and replace the jobs that have been lost. The Minister must take rapid action in that regard.

My final point is that we need to see more being done at a European level with regard to investigating the use of antigen testing. The Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Holohan, and Dr. Cillian De Gascun appeared before an Oireachtas committee yesterday and said that the research into antigen testing was not conclusive enough to allow organisations like NPHET or the WHO to support or endorse its use in airports. I ask the Minister to raise this at the next meeting of EU transport ministers. I am not sure when the next meeting is scheduled but I am aware that there was an informal meeting in October. We need to see a multilateral approach to this issue because Ireland cannot do this on its own. Everyone at this meeting agrees that we need to investigate this but unless there is a multilateral, Europe-wide approach to antigen testing, it will not be possible to implement it. As far as I am aware, there has been very little discussion of this issue among European transport ministers. Given the importance of the aviation sector to our economy, I urge the Minister to seize the opportunity to raise this matter with his European counterparts.