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

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. As advised by an Teachta O'Rourke, Sinn Féin will be supporting this legislation. We support the substance of it and we will, of course, be putting forward constructive amendments. I sincerely hope that the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will work with us to ensure the Bill is amended where appropriate. I very much welcome her statement that if more needs to be done, more will be done. As the debate goes on, we will hear about those things that need to be done.

Dublin Airport is in my constituency and, as a result, I have a very keen interest in developments in the area of air transport and navigation. My interest is particularly keen when it comes to the workers at the airport and the residents living in the environs of Dublin Airport or, indeed, far from the airport but under the flight path of the aeroplanes that arrive into and depart from it.

With that in mind, I would like to speak to these points.

Developments in air transport and navigation are always advancing, and they have been even during the pandemic. One of the main developments that concerns me is the failure of the State to protect air connectivity routes during the pandemic. We are an island nation, yet as a State we do not have a stake in an airline or ferry company.

The pandemic is having a devastating effect on a host of sectors, but particularly on the aviation sector, which has been largely shut for almost a year. Many workers in the aviation sector have lost their jobs and others in the sector have seen their incomes drop by anything from 50% to 90%. Sinn Féin is conscious of the massive impact that Covid-19 has had on workers in the aviation industry and it has worked closely with unions to ensure airlines fulfil their obligations to workers at this difficult time.

The workers in the sector, especially in Aer Lingus, have been systematically and continually being let down by successive governments. Indeed, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, Fine Gael and the Labour Party were all party to the sell-off of Aer Lingus. Both Sinn Féin and I totally opposed the selling off of the remaining State share of the company at the time, and we remain opposed to it today. The decision was short-sighted and so too are the decisions currently being taken by the Government that are putting Aer Lingus at continuous risk.

Speaking in the Dáil at the selling off of the remaining State share of the company, the Labour Party's Deputy Howlin said that he welcomed "the commitments offered to the existing workforce in Aer Lingus". He went on to state: "As the chief executive officer has indicated to the Minister, he remains committed to an employer-employee engagement model that has unions and the State's industrial relations apparatus at its heart." This was challenged by Sinn Féin at the time and we could see the dangers ahead for Aer Lingus workers. The commitments given appear to have little meaning and the current Government is unwilling to intervene to protect the livelihoods of the workers in Aer Lingus. Not alone did the Labour Party – I believe Deputy Howlin was the leader at the time – sell off the share in Aer Lingus but it also had the neck to lecture the workers that doing so would be for their own good. We all see now the folly of that decision and we do not buy the nonsense that there was no choice. There are always choices in politics. There are always decisions to be made and positions to be taken, and people cannot pick and choose and simply say later that they are sorry or that somebody else made them make the decision when it was clearly not the case.

Across Europe, other states have used relaxed state aid rules to retake shares in their national airlines. Given the severe risk to the future of Irish-based airlines, Sinn Féin previously called on the Government to examine using the €245 million connectivity fund, which was established from the proceeds of the disastrous decision to privatise Aer Lingus fully, to retake a stake in the airline if necessary to support jobs and protect routes. I join my colleague, an Teachta O'Rourke, in asking the Minister of State the status, if any, of the discussions with the National Treasury Management Agency on the connectivity fund.

Speaking of Aer Lingus, it would be remiss of me not to mention the treatment of workers at the airline as they fight to access their social welfare entitlements. A significant number of workers at Aer Lingus who are entitled to short-time work support payments feel that the Department of Social Protection is rejecting their claims because the UP38 forms filled out by the airline do not reflect the true reality of the situation and how they are paid. As a result, the applications of these workers for short-time work support has been rejected by local Intreo offices and the Department of Social Protection. I urge the Government to intervene and address this situation. It has been going on for almost a year now.

On the same theme, that of workers' rights, it is beyond doubt that employment law and the failures of successive governments to rectify it have allowed bogus self-employment to run rampant in this State. From the construction industry and RTÉ to the so called gig-economy, bogus self-employment is a massive problem. The aviation sector is another area where the problem is systemic. Irish pilots have consistently highlighted how Irish employment law facilitates bogus self-employment right across Europe. The Minister of State might believe this is a point better raised with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment – it has been, as far as I know – but the fact that nearly half of all pilots operating in Irish-registered airlines are not employed directly by the airline for whom they fly is a major safety concern, and it should be a worry for the Minister of State. I urge her to bring this matter to the attention of the relevant Ministers and to offer her support for the Sinn Féin Organisation of Working Time (Workers' Rights and Bogus Self-Employment) (Amendment) Bill 2019, which seeks to tackle the scourge of bogus self-employment in this State.

I wish to raise an issue of considerable concern for the residents in the environs of Dublin Airport. Pre-planning discussions have taken place between the aircraft noise competent authority and the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, regarding the noise abatement objective, but only one stakeholder has been invited. The DAA is the only stakeholder that has been invited to these discussions, and the residents who live with the impact of the noise have been excluded. This is not fair and has to be rectified. Will the Minister of State ensure that the residents are invited to participate in discussions on the noise abatement objective?

The DAA has applied for planning permission to change aspects of the conditions on the operation of the new runway at Dublin Airport, yet there has been no public consultation. Will the Minister of State take an interest in this and ensure that the residents are not ignored and that the consultation period is extended to allow for meaningful consultation with all parties, especially those living in the environs of the airport, who are directly impacted by it?

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