Ms Mary Considine:

As the Deputy noted, we are very fortunate to have three flights a day to London Heathrow with Aer Lingus. That is a very important service for us and it allows businesses in the region to transit through that major hub. We would love to have a second, central European hub but it has been challenging, despite all our efforts and discussions with airlines, to secure that. Before the pandemic, we secured services with Aer Lingus into Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The route was due to start in March 2020 but the pandemic hit in late February and, unfortunately, that service did not start. Vueling operates into Paris Orly Airport, which is a welcome addition. it started last September and we are delighted to have it operate out of Shannon. We will continue to work hard to secure a major central European club but that will require support. In our submission today, we referred to a connectivity fund or some sort of funding similar to what Tourism Ireland does to support tourism routes. In the early years of a tourism route, Tourism Ireland is very supportive, and perhaps the State could look at a similar mechanism for key industrial routes.