Mr. Kenneth Spratt:

When the crisis hit, I was leading the tourism and sport functions within the Department, so we were very much at the coalface as to the immediate impact of Covid-19. We were first and hardest hit. My heart goes out to colleagues in the tourism industry, in particular.

As regards aviation, the solution has three parts to it. First, we have to get the virus under control not just in Ireland but throughout Europe and the world in a way that will allow international travel to restart. Thankfully, we have the vaccination programme and will be able to make significant progress over the first, second and third quarters, but it will be quarter 3, or at least towards the end of the second quarter, before we start to see some sort of pick up in international travel. Colleagues in the aviation industry are hoping that the third quarter will allow a fairly significant increase in international travel. We must get the virus under control.

The second thing we must do, as the Senator quite rightly pointed out, is to ensure that our airports continue to be fit for current but also for future purpose. We have made some investments and have committed to making quite significant investments in the airports in Cork and Shannon, which the Senator mentioned. We are keeping a very close eye on that. If it is the case that additional investment is required, that is something that we are happy to consider. As I said, we are liaising very closely with the regional airports.

The third thing we need to do is to ensure that incentives, if they are needed, are in place for the airlines that come through in order to get more people flying again and, in particular, flying into this country. It is not just about doing what we can for the airlines but it is also about doing what we can for the tourism sector here in Ireland.

It is a three-part solution which in summary is to get the virus under control, make sure the airports are fit for present and future purposes and ensure the airlines can continue to fly.