Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Embleton and Mr. Moriarty for their presentation. I have two questions. I am from Limerick, like the Chairman. Shannon Airport is key for the region. A report showed recently that the top 40 companies use Shannon Airport for staff coming in and going out for meetings and so forth. A commitment has been sought from Ms Embleton with regard to the Heathrow slots and the early morning and late evening flights. She says she cannot give a commitment, but I believe she has to revisit that question given that so many companies in the region are dependent on them and the region is so dependent on regional balance in terms of expansion of companies. Those slots are very important, but it has to be a commitment to early morning and late evening flights.

I have another question. Were bonuses paid to Aer Lingus staff in the last 15 months during the pandemic? Are there plans to pay any bonuses, especially to management, for the past 15 months and perhaps into the future, before the end of the year?

The other issue is that ATR 72s were being used for the Shannon-Paris route before Covid-19. Are there any plans to put them in place? They would possibly cost less to run than bigger aircraft. With regard to transatlantic flights out of Shannon, mainly to New York and Boston, they have been very successful over a number of years. When is it planned to reinstate these flights, given that Shannon Airport has the pre-clearance facility? I look forward to answers to my questions.