Ms Ashley Connolly:

I thank the Deputy and will try to answer both elements of his question. First, offshoring is a real risk. Aircraft can be moved to any base and airlines will move their aircraft to more profitable bases with less stringent restrictions. Offshoring is a very real risk. We are seeing bases opening up but we are very concerned about what travel in Ireland will look like in the future. Will we be able to maintain the routes we currently have, never mind expand? In pre-Covid times we were hearing statements to the effect that Ireland will be an island at the centre of the globe but now we will be lucky to maintain what we have. There is much talk about the need for FDI but we will shut off half of Ireland if the bases at Cork and Shannon close. What will happen then? Everything will become more centralised in the east, which is not what anybody wants to see happening.

I welcome the Deputy's question on income supports. Every day I deal with cabin crew members who are extremely worried. They are trying to engage with their banks and to address their own personal outgoings. Some have children doing their leaving certificate this year and they do not know if they will be able to afford the college registration fees that are due in September. To put it in perspective, in March 2020, people were earning 100% of their salaries but, since then, their earnings have ranged from 30% to 60%, depending on their base location. Imagine losing 50% of one's income for that length of time, with no timeline for when one will recover that income. How is one supposed to plan? How can one's family be secure? People are making very harsh decisions every day. There is an obligation on the Government to put income supports in place and in doing so, to underline the fact that such supports are contingent on employment being protected, with no compulsory redundancies. Then we could actually ensure, through engagement, that our members in Cork would not have to be laid off but could remain on the payroll with the use of these supports. The issue is the lack of certainty. I cannot reassure my members who are asking what they will be earning on 1 July. The company cannot reassure them either because it does not know what supports will be in place on 1 July, which is only 30 days from now.