Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister spoke about the need to think long term. If we are to think long term about this we, and he as the relevant Minister, should reflect on the fact that none of our regional airports, or indeed the airport in our capital city, has a railway station, a light rail link or any other form of rail link. That is something we need to address because while connectivity is important, so is connectivity from the airports into other areas essential for tourism and so on. The Minister knows this but if we are going to be thinking long term, that is what we need to be thinking about.

I take this opportunity to raise an issue relating to Aer Lingus with the Minister. I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this motion and for the opportunity to speak on it today. The issue in Aer Lingus has now moved on from the company simply refusing to sign forms. I am sure the Minister will be familiar with this matter because it has been raised many times by me and others. The problem now sits with his Cabinet colleague, the Fine Gael Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys. Hundreds of Aer Lingus workers are seeking the retrospective entitlement to short-term working supports for the period from March to August, during which the company was in receipt of the TWSS. It was getting that money at that time. It is now nearly nine months on and these people and their families are in crisis. The failure of the Minister's Cabinet colleague to address this issue has left families on the absolute brink. They are not just hovering above the poverty line but are dipping below it in many instances. These are people who have worked hard for Aer Lingus. They have long service in many cases and they have now exhausted their savings. Any money they had in the bank is now gone because they have had to use it to support themselves to live. They have maxed out any credit that might be available or any small loans that might be available from their families. They need this retrospective entitlement, to which they have a right, and they need this done now. I ask the Minister to talk to his Cabinet colleague and ask her to instruct the Intreo offices to grant these workers their entitlement. They have an entitlement to short-term working support and they are not looking for anything over and above that. Their lives are falling apart at the moment, through no fault of their own. They have given good and loyal service to the company. There is a global pandemic and they fully recognise the reasons they are not in work, but they need to live and they have an entitlement to this short-term working nine months on. It cannot be too much to ask that we address this issue. I urge the Minister to ask his Cabinet colleague, the Fine Gael Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to instruct her officials to give the workers in Aer Lingus their entitlement and due.

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