Mr. Willie Walsh:

When I said the Irish Government has the most repressive regime, I meant that it had mandatory hotel quarantine for over 70 countries and still have it for a number of countries. Regarding the US, if I look at the data the UK has provided, in that six-week period about which I spoke, the positivity rate and the number of people travelling to the UK from the US was 0.7%. A total of 34 people tested positive for coronavirus. A total of 99% plus did not have the virus, yet you are locking them up in hotels here. That is repressive. A total of 32 people travelling from France to the UK tested positive, yet they are being locked up in hotels in Ireland. Nobody travelling to the UK from Belgium tested positive, yet people travelling from Belgium to Ireland are being locked up. Nobody tested positive from Luxembourg. They are just four countries in respect of which I can give the committee an example of hard data. For some reason, the Irish Government has decided that these people represent a significant risk to Ireland. I disagree strongly. I am not being paid by Aer Lingus. I have not been paid by it or indeed IAG for some time but I reject the statements made about Aer Lingus. It would be able to defend itself but-----