Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I will refer to a few issues. I congratulate Mr. Pádraig Ó Céidigh who has been appointed the new chairperson of the board of the Shannon Group. That is a positive appointment for Shannon. He is a man of substance and has a deep understanding of aviation and how it works. Hailing from the west, he also has an understanding of the need for, and importance of, balanced regional development. I very much look forward to working closely with Mr. Ó Céidigh and the team in Shannon over the time ahead.

There are a number of issues with aviation. There is a need for a dramatic change in aviation policy. What is the current position of that policy? What plans does the Minister have to review it? Will he accept submissions to that policy? If we learned anything from Covid-19, it is that we need to disperse large volumes of people. We can do that with a good airport network around the country, including Shannon Airport. There is a massive amount of unused potential there. We could create it, and use it, as a hub. In the short to medium term, there is a need to establish a new package of aviation supports in the wake of the pandemic. We must re-establish strategic routes and underpin them with finances to make it more attractive for airlines to come to our airports. These points are being made by groups such as the chambers of commerce in Shannon, Ennis, Limerick and Galway, which came together and presented a report on this. I would like to hear the Minister's views on that. Are he and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, working on providing a new package for aviation to underpin and re-establish strategic routes? Those routes in the case of Shannon Airport are the transatlantic routes to Boston and New York and getting a regular, workable connectivity to Heathrow and other European hubs, such as Frankfurt. Perhaps he would outline his plans in that regard.

Another issue is the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, MCIB. It is something we have discussed at length in this committee. I understand that a report has been lodged with the Department by Captain Steve Clinch on foot of a number of hearings held by this committee. I ask that Captain Clinch's report be published without delay and that action be taken on the recommendations contained in the report. If legislation is necessary, and I believe it is, that legislation should be worked on without delay. I also ask the Minister to publish the draft heads of legislation in respect of the MCIB that were produced back in 2010. This work was completed by a barrister, Ms Roisin Lacey. Basically, I understand that this legislation and the report completed by Captain Clinch come to the same conclusion - we need an independent investigative unit in the MCIB that is at arm's length from the board and has a properly funded, full-time investigative role. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response to those questions.

Finally, there is an ongoing issue with frequent flooding of the Ennis-Limerick railway line at Ballycar. I was formerly the chairperson of the then Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development and that committee held a number of hearings two years ago on this issue. All stakeholders were called to appear before the committee, including Irish Rail, the OPW, the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. There was a large number of stakeholders. They were mandated to come back with a solution and they did that. I compliment the role played by Irish Rail, Clare County Council and all the groups. They submitted a report to the Department in December 2020 and they outlined and recommended a solution to this ongoing problem. They put a cost of €16.5 million on it. They outlined in the extensive report, which runs to 173 pages-----