Ms Sarah O'Leary:

I have not been in a lay-off situation before. This is the first time for me and, as far as I am aware, they have never closed Cork Airport to do runway works in the past. This is a new decision and it is negatively impacting on the base and on me and my colleagues. We are being laid off with no pay. As I say, there is no certainty about what is to come in the winter if there are further lockdowns due to Covid-19, delays due to the works, weather events or anything else. We will then be heading into Christmas. We are paid two weeks in arrears so even if we go back on the roster at the right time, we will not get a pay packet until January. People are putting their children back into school from September to November. They have to pay for books and uniforms. There is already so much pressure on people. As Ms Corcoran said, we have been on reduced pay for 15 months. It has not been a case of staff taking a pay cut for a couple of weeks, we have taken a pay cut for almost 16 months. The effect on all cabin crew at all bases is huge but, as can be seen from the announcement, 81 families in Shannon are now facing into redundancy. They have moved to the next stage and it is very concerning that Cork could be next.