Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Within the region and among those who work in aviation, there is an appetite among the big stakeholders for a shake-up of the board. To be clear, I commend and compliment what Mary Considine is doing as chief executive, but sometimes a few new players can help to reinvigorate a board. I am sure Pádraig Ó Céidigh and Mary Considine will complement each other. My point is just about the make-up of the board. There needs to be an incisive aviation outlook in the coming months. We need Shannon to get back to the point of recovery. It was in a state of decline long before Covid hit.

Shannon Heritage falls under the Minister's remit currently because it is an entity of the Shannon Group. Bizarrely, there is again talk of closing iconic sites in the mid-west such as Bunratty Castle and folk park and King John's Castle. What we have is a takeover process. It was a very good decision by the Government. The running of these sites will transfer from Shannon Heritage to local authorities. The date of 31 December was set as a target for all due diligence to conclude and for the formal sign-over to take place, meaning from 1 January, the local authorities of Clare County Council and Limerick City and County Council would take over the sites. These matters are complex, but it now looks like the takeover might not happen until March. Shannon Heritage is looking at closing the sites again in the period from 1 January until March. That has been communicated to workers. It has also been intimated to workers that the company will no longer draw down the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and Government supports. That is illogical. It lacks strategic outlook and is short-sighted. The company is also turning down corporate bookings. I accept that the Minister cannot have oversight of everything, but could he please ensure that any backlogs that might come down the line in this all-important transfer are expedited? I accept it is not his line Ministry but unless I am totally missing the point, there is something wrong here. The EWSS is a flat-rate support that is calculated on how many part-time, full-time and seasonal staff a company has and it is a support the Government gave to entities to ensure that people were not laid off, made redundant and put on unemployment benefit. In the case of Shannon Heritage, the EWSS has been availed of but workers are being left on part-time and reduced hours. All I ask is that the Minister would do everything he can at ministerial level to expedite whatever loose ends remain with the Department.