James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have spoken many times in this House about the need for Ireland's Brexit strategy approach to not merely focus on maintaining the status quorelationship between Ireland and the UK. Ireland should start to look at other markets and diversify its horizons. Part of so doing is ensuring we have connectivity on and off this island. This is currently at risk and our economy will suffer if we fail to diversify our international trade as a consequence of Brexit.

We estimate in the region of €300 million per annum for intra-European traffic, which represents real value in supporting the 140,000 jobs in aviation and the 325,0000 jobs in tourism. There is a need for a two-pronged approach to the situation, that is, the need to get clarity on international travel on and off this island and the need to put a stimulus package in place to sustain the aviation industry over time. We must recognise that the Covid-19 virus will be with us for the long term and we need to plan accordingly.

In terms of Cork Airport, passenger numbers fell by over 95% during lockdown when compared with the same period last year. Air traffic is not expected to recover to 2019 levels until 2024 and the impact of Covid-19 on Cork Airport is expected to cause the loss of more than 2 million passengers this year and more than €23 million in lost revenue by the year end.

Cork Airport is Ireland's second largest international airport with 2.4 million passengers in 2018. The airport offers more than 50 routes to destinations across the UK and Europe. Such a loss will result in both a huge loss to jobs in my region and a huge loss to connectivity in Cork East and the south of this country more generally. We need this connectivity for the Cork region to economically thrive in a post-Brexit world. We should also look at improving the runway at Cork Airport during the upcoming review of the national development plan to help expand current routes and protect the future of our country's second airport.

Easing travel restrictions will not immediately repair the aviation sector and other European governments have already moved to provide substantial financial assistance. A stimulus package should be put in place for Cork Airport to encourage the rebuilding of traffic. I will quote the final report on the task force for aviation recovery from July 2020. It states, "As part of this package, the State should directly provide the airports with a common fixed sum per passenger which will be used by the airports to stimulate traffic by reducing airport charges for airlines and restoring and growing passenger numbers." This scheme would represent state aid and should be notified to the European Commission for approval in accordance with state aid rules. It should apply for the duration of the aviation sector's recovery from this virus.

We must adapt and champion the green list at a European level. Ireland has continued to deviate from the approach of our European partners, ignoring the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC, guidelines and adopting a failed quarantine strategy. Green and amber countries should have no restrictions in terms of moving through the European Union, meaning free movement within these countries if a legitimate negative test can be obtained. We need to bring in a better testing regime, which other countries have in place, for countries deemed to be in the red zone. Quarantine is a blunt instrument. The DAA has investigated the ability to facilitate pre-departure rapid testing at Cork and Dublin airports. They could conduct up 15,000 tests a day, which is absolutely staggering. We need to look at investing in and investigating better testing such as loop-mediated isothermal amplification, LAMP, testing. The market is constantly getting better at being able to adapt to the airport environment during Covid-19.

Ireland should be at the forefront of ensuring such investments are made and we need to ensure a return to international travel in this country. If we want to Brexit-proof our economy, it is more than necessary. It is dangerous to think the routes that have been removed from our airports will re-emerge overnight. Therefore, we need to add act now. The restoration of routes requires a huge effort and it could be 2024 before we see a recovery within this sector. It is a recovery that Ireland can and should champion.

See this speech in context