Mr. Evan Cullen:

We outlined this in our original submission in May, but to give the Deputy a picture of how the process works when people exhale in the aircraft that exhaled air is immediately sucked to the floor. It is then taken out of the cabin and put through the high-efficiency particulate air, HEPA, filters, which are the same filters used in the operating theatres of hospitals. The air is then reintroduced into the cabin from the ceiling. That is the circulation cycle. The air does not go up and down the cabin; it immediately goes to the floor and out through the filters.

That is why it has been shown that wearing a mask in a properly-constructed aircraft, and all categories of commercial aircraft have been produced to that standard, is effective in eliminating passenger-to-passenger transmission. It is worth noting that the modern aircraft that use Irish airports are constructed and designed from day one with a view to carrying passengers in all parts of the planet, including in areas where there are highly infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, TB. These aircraft are deliberately designed to eliminate passenger-to-passenger transmission.