Mr. John Mulhern:

I thank the Deputy for his support. We are looking closely at the public service obligation numbers. The numbers travelling between Dublin and Kerry are low. They recovered in quarter 3 when everybody was encouraged to staycation. Many people travelled between Dublin and Kerry for holidays and numbers improved significantly. They have fallen off a little now since we moved to level 5. However, we believe that once level 5 is successful, and we are certain it will be, that those numbers will recover. It will be in late quarter 1 or quarter 2 of 2021 before we see significant growth in the public service obligation numbers to the levels that we enjoyed before Covid.

I have had some interest from an airline in connecting the regions. The reasoning is similar to that of the new transport system in Dublin where a system of buses connects the city on the outside, with some on spokes of the wheel to bring traffic in. That airline was looking at how it could connect Kerry to Donegal while shuttling through Shannon and Ireland West Airport Knock to build a new structure to connect the west coast of Ireland by air, especially in the summer season to encourage holidaymakers to travel up and down the west coast of Ireland. Those who are keen to go towards something like that will look for support as a new option for a public service obligation that would support Kerry, Shannon, Ireland West and Donegal with new planes and smaller planes moving through the regions. If it was something that anyone in government felt was a possibility, even for a summer or two as we recover over the next three or four years, I am certain that the other regional airports would get on board to support it.