Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Business Committee for facilitating this session, which I requested. Aviation is the sector most exposed to the Covid pandemic. It has been utterly ravaged. It took the sector 18 months to recover from the 9/11 attacks and it is now anticipated that it could take three to five years for the sector to recover from the current health and economic crises. For this reason, I implore the Minister to set up the aviation task force urgently. If we wait until the late autumn to introduce supports for aviation, airlines, airports and the countless spin-off industries, it will be too late. The sector is on its knees and it needs an urgent adrenaline shot.

Yesterday, I spent three hours in Shannon Airport meeting workers who have lost or are about to lose their jobs. I discovered that of the 1,600 Aer Lingus cabin crew, those at Shannon Airport are in the top 100 in terms of seniority ranking within the organisation. Despite years of loyal service to Aer Lingus, they were told via a video from management that they would be laid off. I find that utterly appalling. This afternoon they got a letter confirming that. In announcing staff lay-offs, it appears that Aer Lingus did not follow the long-established HR procedure of last in, first out. New staff taken on by the company in Dublin and Cork last winter will retain their jobs while those who have given more than 30 years of loyal service to Aer Lingus are being told bye-bye. The Aer Lingus staff I spoke to are currently taking home about 40% of their regular salary. They understood from management that they would receive 50% of their salary, which would be topped up by the Government's wage subsidy scheme, but none of that has happened. The Government has to intervene in this fiasco. It is not good enough to say that this is an independent company and that we cannot intervene. The Government has skin in the game. It has a lucrative PPE transit contract with Aer Lingus and practically all of Aer Lingus's wage bill is being paid by the Government.

I want Aer Lingus to offer clarity and a commitment to its future in Shannon. We need guarantees that flights to Heathrow and the US will recommence at the earliest opportunity. Shannon Airport is the driving force for the entire mid-west, and without it, there is no local economy. The outgoing Government did not provide any capital funding for Shannon Airport over its term at a time when the airport needed to market new routes and attract other routes. It had to invest and dig deep into its reserves to fund runway and baggage claim upgrades. This drought of funding came at a time when Waterford Airport, which had not had any flights for three years, was granted €5 million by the Minister. The final nails in the coffin of Shannon Airport have almost been hammered in, but with a claw hammer we can withdraw them and give the airport the boost it needs. We need to return to 24-7 operations. I was surprised to see cargo crates in Shannon Airport yesterday, which will be trucked out from the apron of the airport to Heathrow to fly to the US.

We are missing out on strategic opportunities.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine operates a pharmaceutical screening point in Shannon. I have heard it will be moved to Dublin with a loss of jobs, status and income for Shannon. The Minister and his colleague in agriculture should make a statement clarifying the situation.

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