Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues in the Independent Group and those across the other Independent groups for their support with this motion. I have already dealt with the Sinn Féin amendment, which I have no problem accepting.

I wish to look in particular at the Government's countermotion and the speech by the Minister for Transport. I simply cannot accept the countermotion because it is a thing of nothing. It notes the Government's commitment to the survival and recovery of the aviation sector when circumstances allow and refers to consideration of the aviation recovery task force recommendations when the time is right. Government frequently comes up with meaningless words. These are indeed those meaningless words.

I welcome the concrete actions the Government announced yesterday. The Minister took issue with our failure to acknowledge actions on the part of the Government. I wish to point out that this motion was tabled on Friday. The Government announced its actions yesterday. I have no doubt that they were in response to the motion. I graciously acknowledged and welcomed those actions in my introductory remarks. To suggest that we are not acknowledging the Government's actions is untrue.

Perhaps the Government might also acknowledge that it brought forward those actions in response to this motion. Regardless of the reasons, I welcome them.

I would, though, look at two announcements in particular. The first is the announcement of €6 million for operational costs for the regional airports, which is quite important but is subject to EU approval. Is this a delaying tactic or is EU approval actually required? My understanding was that state aid rules had been suspended for the duration of Covid-19. If that is the case, why is the Government going to the Commission for approval? Is it merely to delay the funding? Second, there have been previous Government announcements on aviation, Shannon Airport and in particular Shannon Group that have not lived up to the Government's billing.

I acknowledge the People Before Profit amendment. I do not accept it simply because it removes all the content of our motion. If the amendment were an addition to the motion, I would accept it. I acknowledge how badly the airlines, in particular Aer Lingus, have treated their workers. Aer Lingus seems to have a policy of not telling anybody what is happening at Shannon Airport. That is somewhat strange when it comes to its passengers, but the passengers can go to Dublin Airport. That may well be what Aer Lingus wants to achieve by this, but it is appalling when it comes to its workers and the manner in which the company has treated its workers in Shannon Airport. They are the workers I have met. I have no reason to believe that its workers are being treated any better in the other airports.

I welcome the support of Deputy Duncan Smith and the Labour Party for the motion. As he said, this is not a matter of Dublin versus the rest; it is about a balanced aviation policy. I, too, want to see Dublin Airport return to profitability and a situation in which everybody who works in Dublin Airport is treated fairly, as are the workers in other airports. I also thank Deputy Catherine Murphy of the Social Democrats for her support and acknowledge what she said - a footprint is much wider than an immediate airport. That is the basis of this motion.

The Minister, Deputy Ryan, said he would meet people who have a particular geographical interest in this. I pointed out at the beginning that I have an airport in my constituency, as do others, but many Independents who put their names to the motion do not have airports in their constituencies but recognise how important the aviation sector is to our tourism industry and how interlinked they are with FDI right across the western seaboard. The Central Bank, as I pointed out, has released a report stating that the western seaboard is disproportionately affected by the measures the Government has taken in response to Covid-19. I accept that Covid-19 has posed a significant challenge to aviation right across the world, but it has been exacerbated by how the Government has dealt with this.

Finally, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, talked about foreign direct investment. We spend a lot of money in Ireland trying to attract such investment into the country, and rightly so, but we spend no money looking at developing routes to regional airports which underpin FDI in the regions. We know from studies in the mid-west, the west and across the country that FDI is underpinned by connectivity, so that connectivity is essential to attracting this investment. We spend money on attracting it but not on supporting it. Connectivity is the single biggest attraction.

For these reasons, I urge the House to support the motion.

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