Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On aviation, which is hugely important from an Irish perspective, because we are an island, about half the people who come to Ireland by air come from the UK airports. Connectivity is hugely important and the majority of people who come via the UK come via Aer Lingus or Ryanair. They are by far the two most important airlines for Ireland. In December the EU provided reassurance on a temporary basis that flights from the UK into the EU can continue to happen on a point-to-point basis, namely, from London to Paris and back again, but not from London to Paris and on to Madrid and to Berlin, unless they are an EU carrier. At least that guarantees direct access in and out of the EU from the UK.

There is also an issue on safety certification at UK airports, of which the Commission has said it will extend its certification and recognition but only for a temporary period in the context of contingency around a no-deal scenario. Where this becomes complicated is that both Aer Lingus and Ryanair need to qualify in the future as EU airlines to be able to benefit from the air agreements across the EU for EU airlines which are significantly important for their business model.

It is not appropriate for me to get into how Aer Lingus or Ryanair for that matter will consider restructuring or changing their ownership structures in order to qualify to be EU-owned and-or controlled airlines. That is a matter for the companies concerned but both have stated that they will have contingency plans in place should that be needed. There are issues around commercial sensitivities here that restrict what I can say in the detail of this. Both airlines are very aware of this not just in terms of connectivity to and from Irish airports. They are both big European airlines now and like Governments, they will need to have their contingency plans ready to go, which I understand is what is in place.

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