Mr. Joe Gilmore:

At a meeting of this committee two weeks ago, Mr. Filip Cornelis, the EU delegate, stated that no application had yet been made by the Government to Europe for funding supports for the aviation sector. I assume that the €80 million support package announced in budget 2021 and yesterday's announcement of additional funding will form the initial application.

Regarding a skew or a league table, the airlines are on record about the level of support and funding put into their sector across Europe. Airports Council International, ACI, which is the representative association of 400 airports in Europe, stated last week that up to 200 airports could go insolvent in the next 12 to 18 months. ACI is seeking significant supports across Europe. The airlines have gained most of the support and airports are only starting to access funding.

I cannot answer for our Government, but I assume that the initial package that was announced in recent weeks is the first tranche of funding from the supports that have been sought.