Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Walsh for attending today's meeting. At the outset I mention the devastating news received yesterday that Aer Lingus, an airline with a constant presence in Shannon since 1958, is to permanently close its base there. That is absolutely devastating for the 130 employees based in Shannon, the region and aviation in general. There is much work to be done and we will go down fighting. I know the Taoiseach is to meet airline representatives tomorrow and the airline is seeking support from the Government. That must be conditional and there is no blank cheque territory for funds, whether in the form of grants or repayable loans via ISIF. There must be some conditionality built in and this must involve commitments to routes from Shannon and the base there.

There are a number of things I want to say about yesterday's announcement. One must look at the chronology, because the Cabinet was due to meet yesterday to consider two things, one of which was the scaling back of mandatory hotel quarantine, which cannot happen soon enough. It had a purpose in early January when we had 8,000 or so cases of Covid-19 per day but it does not have a purpose now. The Cabinet was also to consider the digital green certificate and a pathway forward to a resumption of international air travel. These were the matters on the Cabinet agenda yesterday. That is the day that Aer Lingus chose to make this announcement. The company has availed of salary support in the form of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, for the past 14 months and practically all of the Aer Lingus wage bill has been paid for by the Government. While the Government may not own the airline and that day is gone, it has skin in the game and it needs to call that in as well.

The digital green certificate will be before Cabinet again next week, as we are getting to the final ratification stage. It has to be stated repeatedly that this has to be ratified by 27 member states. This is an EU-wide protocol and set of regulations and it is not the case of Ireland being a laggard in this regard. There is a political run-in period here of six weeks or so, from the time of ratification across the EU to its implementation. Can Mr. Walsh inform us if that six-week political lead-in aligns itself with the lead-in period that IATA and all of the airlines it represents need in having hours for pilots, cabin crews back and certified and marketing plans up in place? It seems to me that on Tuesday, when the Cabinet meets and the ratification process starts in Ireland, the logical thing for the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan to say is that the sector is in the starting blocks and that this is its six-week lead-in period. He should state it is also the lead-in period politically and that we should now get it all aligned. Can Mr. Walsh tell us if that aligns itself perfectly for his industry?