Mr. Rory O'Connor:

For any very skilled profession, there will always be a high demand. It is natural, if we look around the world, that as a small island we feed into bigger areas, whether it is Europe or out to the Middle East. People will always move to where the money is. AirNav Ireland has engaged to try to build up but, given the nature of the job, we cannot just turn people into air traffic controllers. Everything has to be safety-managed. People have to be developed and trained. Depending on where people are operating, specific endorsements are also required. It is a very specific skill set and we feed into it.

Overall air traffic has increased post Covid. We are now looking at 600,000-plus flights into Irish airports alone, and 500,000 flights cross through Irish airspace annually. Given our geographical nature, we are very much positioned at a crossing point in Europe. It is very much about demand. Covid played a factor as we tried to build up capability but it is a worldwide issue in that people move around.