Mr. Neil McGowan:

I thank the Chairman and members for the opportunity to address the committee today. We look forward to answering any questions in due course. I am the SIPTU aviation sector organiser. I am joined by my colleague, Karan O’Loughlin, divisional organiser for SIPTU’s transport, energy, aviation and construction division.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented and devastating impact on the aviation industry. There are thousands of workers across the country who are earning a fraction of what they earned pre-Covid, hundreds more are on lay off, hundreds are out of employment and all are fearful for their futures. Flights and passenger numbers have collapsed, and the industry has been brought to its knees.

The outlook for aviation in the short to medium term is bleak and any green shoots that were hoped for in 2020 have not materialised. We are now in a winter season, traditionally a quiet time in the airports, that will be particularly challenging. Despite a dramatic drop in earnings, workers in aviation continued to work throughout the darkest days of the pandemic and SIPTU members in the airlines, ground handlers and airport workers played a critical role in keeping the airports open for essential deliveries of personal protective equipment, PPE, and medical supplies.

The adoption of the EU traffic light system is welcome but given the trajectory of the virus across Europe this is unlikely to give any short-term relief to the industry or the many thousands of our members who make a living from aviation. In order to ensure that Ireland has an aviation industry post-crisis, we believe a number of actions need to be taken immediately by the Government. SIPTU recommends the extension and amendment of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, for the aviation sector to ensure that employment is maintained in the industry. The scheme should be tailored for the aviation industry so that it becomes a genuine short-time working scheme based on the German model that pays workers 85% of their pre-Covid-19 earnings.

It must be made conditional on several binding commitments from the employers, which I will now outline. No worker is to be made redundant on a compulsory basis while the employer is benefiting from the EWSS and no worker should suffer a permanent reduction in any term and condition of employment unless by collective agreement while the employer is benefiting from the EWSS. SIPTU recommends that Shannon Airport be returned to the management of the DAA. The separation of Shannon Airport has not been a success and the Covid-19 crisis has brought into question its long-term viability. Given its absolute importance to the regional economy, we believe it must be brought back into the DAA. SIPTU also recommends the introduction of a rapid testing facility for all airport workers and passengers. SIPTU calls for a review of the non-State airport sector, which will require additional support in re-establishing routes and attracting new ones. If direct state aid is given to the non-State airport sector the State should take an ownership in these airports. SIPTU recommends that all recommendations of the aviation task force are implemented without delay.

In the absence of the Government taking meaningful action, we simply will not have a functioning aviation sector as structural damage is being done to the industry and in a post-Covid world, aviation will not be able to recover. Given that we are an open island economy, the wider Irish economy will not recover to the full extent without a functioning aviation sector. The thousands of people who depend on it directly and the hundreds of thousands in the wider economy who need a functioning aviation industry need the Government to act now through the tailored supports our union is seeking on behalf of its members.

There have, obviously, been some developments over the past days with regard to funding for the airports, which is welcome. We believe, however, that it does not go far enough to ensure the future of the industry. There have also been some positive developments around testing at the airports but, again, it does not go far enough. There will be very limited availability in the short term at least. It may only be some 300 per day between Dublin and Cork Airports, which is not going to be sufficient. We also have concerns that the cost of testing with private provider is prohibitive. The test will be around €150 or €200 for a rapid test, and for the ordinary travelling public that will prove prohibitive. While some of these measures are absolutely welcome, and it is the beginning of putting the building blocks on place to get the industry back on its feet, there really needs to be a razor sharp focus on supporting workers to get through the next period and months before the industry recovers to the full extent. We believe that the correct way to do that is to tailor the EWSS to make it a genuine short-time working scheme.