Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Aer Lingus is doing a lot and that is welcome. The whole aviation sector has to drag itself forward, which is a global issue, and I welcome the role Aer Lingus is playing in this. The more new partnerships created, the better. The committee was in the Netherlands about a month ago and it was incredible to see how they are leagues ahead of us in terms of how they are leading in climate action by what they are doing, particularly in the realm of aviation, such as Rotterdam airport and the innovation hub. I commend Aer Lingus on what it is doing but I also call on it to do more and partner more in the coming years.

Are there new opportunities for Aer Lingus with the Ryder Cup coming to the mid west and the prospect of stages of the Tour de France taking place here? It is hoped there will be some pretty big events coming to Ireland. We want Aer Lingus to position itself to the fore, as others will, to receive people into Ireland and to fly them globally. The tourism product was mentioned and that is not all in the company's realm. A huge amount of that is with Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. Are there new opportunities for Aer Lingus? I am thinking in particular of connecting the west of Ireland into a European hub, which is very much a desire of the people in the west and of the Government. Can Aer Lingus play a role in that?