Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Independent Group for tabling this motion, in particular, Deputy McNamara who is the lead on it. From working with the Deputy when we were members of the same party some years ago and again this year on the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, I am aware of his commitment to Shannon Airport and his desire for it to return to a sustainable and healthy state. This has been consistent throughout his political career and this motion is another example of that. Deputy McNamara acknowledged my presence in the Chamber at the start of the debate, perhaps expecting that, as a representative of Dublin Fingal, I would offer a full-throated defence of the DAA or Dublin Airport versus Shannon Airport. He will not get that today. Obviously, I want Dublin Airport to return to a sustainable state, its workers to be protected and the airport to thrive. However, I also want the regional airports in Shannon, Cork, Kerry, Donegal and Knock to be on a sustainable footing and to thrive, and for the workers there to be protected. This should not be a Dublin versus the regions debate and I do not think that is the case. This is about supporting our regional airports and having a strategy that will ensure these airports thrive and the jobs in them are sustained. That is why the Labour Party is supporting the motion. While there are a couple of elements that we do not fully support, they are not nearly sufficient to cause us not to support the motion because the thrust of it is exactly where we need to go with our regional airports.

On fifth freedom flights, many flights to Ireland have been cancelled. For example, Cathay Pacific, one of the fifth freedom carriers, has said it will not return to Ireland in 2021, and it will be 2022 before it does so. American Airlines has cancelled its winter schedule for the first time in ten years and it will have no flights to Ireland. I would be concerned if we imposed further limits on fifth freedom flights at this stage given that the aviation industry is on the floor.

That is something that could be teased out and worked on because there is no reason Shannon cannot benefit from fifth freedom flights as well.

In respect of the argument about what is more climate-friendly, flights into Shannon or flights into Dublin, etc., there is a global debate on the impact of the aviation industry on climate and carbon emissions in which Ireland will play a small but important part. This is something we need to put energy behind once we get the industry back on a sustainable footing.

This important motion has been brought forward at a vital time. We have been talking about all the regional airports throughout this crisis. Deputy McNamara mentioned phone calls he had with the Austrian embassy in May about airport testing. We are only just announcing airport testing this week so we have taken a long time to get to this point despite arguments from me, other Members in the Chamber and those who are not here that we needed a testing regime.

What we have is a small step. I welcome it but I have a few concerns. I know the testing is being provided by a private company. I understand that our public health system is under stress - we are still in level 5 - so I will absorb that for the time being. However, the cost of these private tests is pretty prohibitive. I was looking at a couple of providers. We are talking about between €100 and €200 for an arrivals test. I listened to the Government representative on "Morning Ireland" earlier. My concern is that the Government will want people returning home during December to comply with public health regulations out of a sense of civic duty. That is fair enough. We all want that but the reality is that an awful lot of the people who will be returning from abroad are in low-paid work abroad. Essential workers from abroad who will, hopefully, be taking advantage of affordable flights will genuinely be put off getting a test on arrival for price reasons. That will be the reality. Cost cannot become an inhibitor to getting a test and the Government may need to look at that. If it means subsidising tests for people arriving in December, that could be done pretty easily. I do not think the cost would be exorbitant. If people arriving say, understandably, that they cannot afford to pay €189 for a test and will take their chances, there will be natural pressure to meet up with family and friends whom they will not have seen for a year - hopefully, we will have moved to level 3 - and that could be a problem. That said, we are here. We have a testing regime that is getting off the ground and I support that.

The Solidarity-People Before Profit amendment was mentioned before the Minister of State entered the Chamber and it will be mentioned later. This amendment concerns how the workers in the airports have been treated. Again, I highlight Aer Lingus workers. The reason we are highlighting this is that they have identified an entitlement they have to retrospective pay for short-time work for the period during which Aer Lingus was in receipt of the temporary wage subsidy scheme. We are talking about the period up to 31 August. There is no legislative barrier to the workers getting that entitlement. There is an administrative barrier. Many of us have raised this in the Dáil and last week during questions on promised legislation. It comes up every week. These workers are on the bread line. As my constituency colleague said, they are actually below the poverty line. This entitlement cannot be allowed to time out. That would be a denial of an entitlement. It would be disgraceful if we allowed this to time out so I ask the Minister of State to bring this issue back to the Minister for Social Protection. That would be most welcome.

To get back to the substance of this motion, this has been a good debate. There are more speakers to come and I am sure they will bring further energy and arguments about why this is an important motion. I thank Deputy McNamara for bringing it forward. We want to see Shannon and Cork airports sustain themselves and thrive. We want to see the airports in Kerry, Donegal and Knock thrive. There is a debate to be had about carbon emissions from the aviation industry. This will be a global argument but there are other elements to climate change. It is not just about aviation. That is for another day. I thank the proposers of the motion.

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