Mr. Gerry Clarke:

I thank the Deputy for his questions and I thank the Chairman for the chance to speak today.

Ms Mulholland has alluded to the 81 employees with long service ranging from 20 to 34 years and that is the only inefficiency that Aer Lingus is targeting but it is not one. People should remember that in 2013-2014 we introduced the 757 aircraft, which made us right sized and efficient. It was the right-sized aircraft that had high load factors and was in service until 2019. From 2019 onwards, we had the A321 Neo that had even further fuel efficiency of anything up to 25% on a round trip to Boston or New York.

The targeting of the base has been gone on for a long time. When a crisis happens Shannon is targeted by the company, unfortunately, and we never know the reason. We have become efficient.

For the mid-west region, €3.8 billion was the economic impact in 2019 and that must mean something to the Government. It should have meant something to Aer Lingus but it seems that it did not, which means that the company is not in tune with the balanced regional development of this country. The revenue means the base has the highest economic percentage impact per passenger coming through the airport. From the perspective of the cabin crew, this aspect should be a very important point for the retention of the cabin crew base.

The national planning framework states that Galway and Limerick should have a population growth of up to 50% up to 2040. That is not going to happen. Regardless of Aer Lingus saying that it will operate out of Shannon, it will not be without a cabin crew basis so one cannot plan a viable operation that will see a decent level of economic activity because, more than likely, there will not be early morning flights and there will be no arrivals in the evening.

In terms of the transatlantic sector, if this issue is not rectified then the mid-west region is going to crumble and there is a severe possibility that the US Customs and Border Protection, CBP, in Shannon will close down and Shannon will become like a mothball thus making it completely unattractive for anybody to fly into. This issue is a huge concern.

On behalf of the cabin crew and their families, I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to speak.