Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about Aer Lingus workers because this has been a devastating 15 months for them. I want to make a point on the contribution of taxpayer. With regard to a fully redacted wage for one of the ground crew based out of Shannon, the crew member got €635.89 in a fortnight. The Irish taxpayer paid €600 of that. Aer Lingus's net contribution to this individual's salary was €35.89. When the taxpayer is contributing in such a major way to the airline, there is an onus on it to commit to airports and its workforce and not wait until the eve of things reopening and until the final furlongs of Covid-19 to pull the carpet from under them and use terms such as "inefficiency". These were grossly insulting to its workers, some of whom have been based with the airline for 30-plus years out of Shannon. People who joined Aer Lingus 15 or 16 months ago, out of the Dublin base, continue to enjoy the benefits of working for Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus has used the Covid-19 pandemic to address some industrial relations issues it had wanted to address for many years and it has exploited an opportunity. It has taken the taxpayer for a ride in some ways.

I have to hand a redacted contract for one of Aer Lingus's employees. That employee's contract is with Aer Lingus, not to the Shannon, Cork or Dublin bases but to Aer Lingus. If you have been 30-plus years with Aer Lingus, based out of Shannon, you are gone. There is huge uncertainty facing your job and future. Many are married to or cohabiting with employees. This is the family dynamic of it. The double whammy has hit many homes here. The reality is his or her contract is with the airline, not the Shannon base. I cannot see, high up or low down, why they should be shown the door. In any place I have ever worked, there has always been the principal of last in, first out. I cannot fathom, for the life of me, why somebody who has recently joined Aer Lingus's work crew would now be relinquished.

Aer Lingus communications to them has been rather shoddy. It has communicated some devastating news to its workers viaWhatsApp, Zoom and virtual messaging and when they try to respond to ask further questions, bots are answering some of those questions. They are not been met with the human face of the airline. I would like Ms Embleton to respond to some of those points.