Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is absolutely disgraceful that Aer Lingus is dodging its responsibility. We have all heard the stories. We have all been in contact with people who have had flights cancelled at the last minute. We have heard some of the reasons for this in the public domain, but we need to interrogate the matter further and discover how long we are going to be dealing with these sort of circumstances. At this stage, people are trying to buy tickets on other airlines in order to avoid, at all costs, being stuck on Aer Lingus flights. This is going to have serious impact on Aer Lingus.

We need to have a discussion on the wider issue of aviation. We are an island. Connectivity is an absolute necessity. We know the problems happening across Europe and the wider world. We have the particular issue at Heathrow Airport that is going to have an impact on us. I refer to a cap of up to 100,000 passengers per day. We do not even know what the full ramifications of that are going to be.

What is happening is not good enough. We need to be very strong in relation to this matter. I was due to take a flight but it was cancelled. The flight was rearranged and would have left Dublin Airport on a date subsequent to that on which my return flight was due to take place. That is utterly ridiculous. It was grand for me because I was on Oireachtas business. I only had a backpack with me and I was willing and able to go where I needed to as quickly as possible. There was a bit of pain involved, and I had to take a couple more flights and make a train journey.

We can see the pressure this is going to put on families and, in particular, businesses. It could have a major impact. What is happening is just not good enough.

I am sorry to be repeating myself, but it is a disgrace. Aer Lingus needs to be in front of us in order that we can get answers. That is what people demand.