James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish Ms Embleton the best of luck in her role. We have not met in person so I wish her well in her role as CEO.

I flew Aer Lingus at the weekend and it was very good, as per usual. I want to continue on a couple of issues that were teased out in the last few rounds of questioning. This is the potential future disruption to services in and out of Dublin Airport, disruption which already has done catastrophic damage to the reputation of the DAA in terms of what happened earlier this year with the rapid return to air travel three years ahead of what had been forecasted, and where that leaves Aer Lingus. Mr. Moriarty made many references to the development of that hub infrastructure, and while I have a relative understanding of it, what concerns me is, looking at Dublin Airport as it stands, at its 2019 passenger levels, the airport was close to its maximum operating capacity. Terminal 1, as far as I am concerned, is a kip in comparison with many airport terminals I have used this summer throughout Europe and farther afield. It is extremely uncomfortable from a passenger point of view, and what is even more uncomfortable is the fact there is no plan by the Dublin Airport Authority to put any investment of note into it for it to be a positive passenger experience once a passenger goes over to the airside operations. I know Terminal 2 is more of a concern for Aer Lingus.

Without referring to the aviation policy review that is going on at the moment, because that is one of those many instruments of delaying investment, I want to get an idea - brass tacks - from Aer Lingus of what it wants to ensure the business can grow in the next five to ten years. That is what we need to hear. Is it a case of relocating? One example is if the maintenance hangars in Dublin Airport were relocated to Shannon. That could provide huge numbers jobs for the west and free up all that space on the northern runway for new terminal infrastructure. Would the witnesses relocate to the south of the airfield in Dublin Airport the An Post services that are currently taking up a lot of potential expansion space for Terminal 2? Will the Aer Lingus representatives give committee members some square answers as to what they think could be done there? That would be very helpful from our point of view when we are discussing these issues with Government and with the Minister of State with responsibility for aviation. Some direct answers would be very helpful. I say that because we are in an interesting space where we are replacing the head of the DAA, which will have significant consequences for aviation in this country. Now is the time to be making the position of the airline clear in terms of what it wants before the new incumbent DAA CEO is appointed.