Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing with Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Maurice Quinlivan; they may or may not arrive. I will have an opportunity during Question Time tomorrow to raise the taxi industry, public and school bus transport and other important issues relating to transport with the Ministers.

4 o’clock

I will be glad to have the opportunity to do that. I want to focus today on the aviation industry. I echo the Minister's commendation of front-line transport workers during the Covid period. Although the aviation sector was one of the worst affected sectors, few specific proposals have been introduced to mitigate the damage caused by the pandemic in this area. The report, Focus on Aerospace & Aviation, prepared by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and published last month, highlights the value of the aviation sector to the State and outlines the huge challenges now posed as a result of Covid-19. Some 140,000 jobs are supported by the air transport sector here, but many are now in jeopardy due to the ongoing pandemic. The staff range from airport staff and cabin crew to mechanics and aircraft leasing employees. The industry is worth €8.9 billion to our economy. As an island nation, we depend on quality air connectivity more than most for business and tourism.

Page 8 of the report states:

Unaided, many airlines could go out of business before travel restrictions are lifted. Some governments have already provided loans or taken temporary equity stakes in airlines and airports to moderate disruption, for example in France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and the US.

On this point, what plans, if any, are afoot here to provide State support to airlines in the form in question? I am aware of the supports the Minister outlined in more general terms. The temporary wage subsidy scheme and the employment wage subsidy scheme remain in place.

Workers at Aer Lingus fear for the future of their jobs, given the crisis facing the aviation sector, which will stretch right into 2021 and beyond. If the treatment of these staff, in terms of the refusal to sign benefit entitlement forms, is anything to go by, these fears are well justified. That issue is not resolved. There is some movement on the employment wage subsidy scheme but the temporary wage subsidy scheme and back pay still need to be addressed. Could the Minister, in his closing comments, state whether he has made contact with the company or his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys? When will this issue be resolved? When will staff get their back pay?

On the company more generally, has the Government discussed a proposal on cash for equity in Aer Lingus to shore it up, protect jobs and guard against the loss of important routes? Similar moves are happening internationally and are being permitted under the relaxed EU state aid rules that have obtained during the pandemic. Earlier this year, the German state took a 20% stake in Lufthansa in exchange for a €9 billion rescue package. At the beginning of this month, the European Commission approved a €200 million bailout for Alitalia, with the Italian Government now retaking control of the airline. It is important that the Irish State try to protect as many jobs and routes as possible to ensure connectivity for the travel, business and inward tourism that we will depend on for our recovery.

It was a terrible decision to sell the State's remaining shares in Aer Lingus in 2015, and one Sinn Féin opposed. Fine Gael and the Labour Party ignored the very legitimate concerns raised at the time, and we are now living with the cost. A sum of €335 million was raised from the sale. The proceeds were used to set up a fund called the connectivity fund, managed by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. According to information I have recently received from the Minister for Finance, only €90 million of this has been invested to date, leaving a pot of €245 million unspent. Has the Minister examined using the money sitting idle in the connectivity fund to shore up jobs in the aviation sector, including through retaking a stake in Aer Lingus and providing financial assistance to our regional airports, such as Cork and Shannon, which are facing massive challenges?

Our regional airports are facing their biggest challenge due to Covid, with only a couple of flights in and out each day. Management at Cork Airport has said the Covid-19 crisis has had a catastrophic impact on the airport's finances, with passenger numbers having fallen by 95% during lockdown and not expected to recover to 2019 levels for another four years. The airport said it will lose around €20 million this year as a result of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Aer Lingus and Ryanair have threatened to close operations at Shannon Airport, which would be a serious blow for the entire mid-west and fly in the face of the objective of balanced regional development.

Is the Minister planning to provide financial assistance in the upcoming budget to airports affected by the pandemic? I am not for a second suggesting we automatically dance to the tune of the multimillionaires who run Ryanair and Aer Lingus but we have to recognise that when we come out the other side of this, we will need an aviation sector that is intact and strong.

Airlines will cite the Government's approach to international travel as one of the factors contributing to some of their current difficulties. Six months into the pandemic, it is shameful that we still have no testing capabilities in our airports, nor even the most basic temperature screening of arriving passengers. People fill in a form and they are literally on their way. One will not find a less restrictive process anywhere else in the world these days. We now have seven countries on the green list. As of an hour ago, with Germany having been added to the list, six of the seven countries have restrictions on Irish people travelling thereto. Most of them have some sort of testing regime. If other countries around the world have introduced testing and temperature screening at their airports, why has the Irish Government decided to take a different approach? At the Covid committee this morning, we heard about the opportunity that exists regarding testing. I will not elaborate on that and let my colleagues contribute.

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