Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy to speak on the important matter of connectivity with the rest of the world. I wish the Minister of State well with her brief and thank her and the senior Minister. I will be speaking to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on a meeting on Zoom tomorrow that I requested, about issues in Tipperary town, which I appreciate.

The aviation industry is very important. People can criticise Ryanair and its chief executive's style but it did transform the industry and introduced competition into it. People were able to go away to holidays in places that they never dreamed of because of competition. We need competition; it is the spice of life. I also salute Aer Lingus. I have travelled a few times with it but not that many. I had a fierce fear of flying for years but once I took to the skies, it grew on me. It has been a wonderful promoter of Ireland, think of their green shamrocks and badges, and the air stewards and pilots. Consider the expense and efforts that the pilots take to get trained but many simply have been abandoned recently. Many pilots in Tipperary and beyond have contacted me who are just in limbo. As Deputy Michael Collins mentioned, in the early part of the pandemic, for some reason Aer Lingus was kicking and screaming and would not allow its staff to sign on and off days, which normal businesses do all the time with different seasonal jobs and otherwise. They should have allowed that. I was privileged to be at the Taoiseach's briefings when we had them with NPHET and the rest of them. I asked them from the very first meeting, like a bad record, why we were not doing something about testing with our airports. They are welded to this PCR test. I have issues with the PCR test, as do many scientists and medical people who know a lot more than me about it. Some samples have been spun around for too many revolutions in tests in this country. I saw somewhere recently that the WHO has warned people to turn down the revolution cycle of tests. Why was the antigen test refused and not allowed? It is nearly a year into the situation. We must have the antigen testing as well.

There is also the issue of many Irish people abroad.

Many of them are away for business and they cannot come home. It is easy to look for the complete closure of the airports but essential travel will always have to take place. I refer to travel for business or health reasons and medical people who want to come in and out of the country. There are even those who come here to repair medical equipment but only a small amount of that takes place.

I was on to the Department recently, as was a constituent of mine. In terms of transmitting Covid, there are two ways one is safe to travel. Uimhir a haon is a negative Covid test within three days and uimhir a dó is a recent history of Covid and recovery from Covid certified by a medical doctor. We have to look at that because the number of people who got Covid, were sick and have recovered is huge. Of course, we never hear that on RTÉ or any of the media. Thankfully, many people recover well. Although the science is not settled on the length of immunity having had Covid and recovering from it, it is accepted that a minimum safe period in which one can expect immunity to last is 90 days. It may last for years but we do not know that yet. For this reason, the second criterion of certified recovery from Covid is obviously the most reliable. That should be examined.

In terms of the USA criteria, they state that effective from 26 January, all airline passengers travelling to the United States aged two years or older must provide a negative Covid-19 viral test taken within three calendar days of travel. Alternatively, travellers to the US may provide documentation from a licensed healthcare provider of having recovered from Covid-19 in the 90 days preceding travel. I would think that person would be a GP or other doctor, so why can we not do that? Why do we have to dance on the head of a pin in this regard? If we did that we would not be wasting money on tests. The PCR test costs €190. They might be a little cheaper now but it is hard to find that out. If one has recovered from Covid and has a certificate to that effect, one should be able to travel.

People who had Covid, recovered and are now immune may still test positive but in their case it is an additional sign of immunity and safety, not a warning sign. People who initially contact Covid were in an infectious cycle from the very start but these people have recovered. Ireland recognises only one criterion for entrance into the country, that is, a negative Covid test within three days of arrival. This means that people who have had Covid, are immune and can legally travel for legitimate and sensible reasons cannot come home. That is what I referred to at the start of my contribution. They might be working in Dubai or God knows where. We have engineers working all over the world. Some of our brightest and best people work all over the world in a wide range of industries and commerce. That is the reason they should be allowed to come home. It is very hard on those people coming up to nearly 12 months of this pandemic if they cannot get home. As I said to the people in the Department of Foreign Affairs, this is a big problem in that people who are now immune to Covid are stranded all over the world as a result of the shortfall in the Irish regulations. We must look at that because if it is good enough for Americans, who are fairly strict, it should be good enough for us.

Our policy on aviation also contradicts the HSE advice which, after a positive test, tells one the number of days to isolate and the date on which one can move freely again. The Cabinet seems to want to be seen to be very strict but this anomaly and shortfall in the regulations is preventing people from trying to come home. While this may be seen to be anti-science, it is not a case of being anti-science. Moreover, it is not anti-vaccination or anything else. I ask the Minister why the Irish travel restrictions do not recognise the status of citizens who have had Covid, recovered, have proof of same and immunity for 90 days. The proof of same is a medical certification. When will the Government stop penalising those who have had Covid and recovered and allow them to come home? If we are going to live with Covid, which we are told we have to do, we will have to support the people who recover from it. There are many of them and they need to be able to have that test to come home.

We have to think outside the box. I know we are talking about aviation and connectivity but NPHET must examine this. I have said frequently that NPHET needs to be expanded and new people need to be brought in from different areas. The airlines are so important to us for our connectivity. I salute a group of people from Ireland and all over the world who went off and bought an airline. They call it the Freedom airline. I am not trying to pick on people who are down or weak in other countries but the Government should be looking at buying airlines, which are being sold for a pittance. It is a pity but we must preserve our airlines. We must preserve our connectivity. Another competitor in Ireland would not do one bit of harm.

Dublin Airport is bonkers every time I am there, albeit not for the past nine months. I refer to investment in Dublin Airport. I spoke at length on the Bill the former Minister, Deputy Ross, was bringing through the House about the downgrading of Shannon, Cork, Waterford - Port Láirge, Galway and Knock airports. We have plenty of airports. We need more aeroplanes and more pilots. We have many young ambitious people who would like to become pilots. I will not list them but I have read out the figures. Governments all over the world have pumped massive amounts of money - billions in some cases - into airlines and we will not give them pingin amháin. Cén fáth? What are we trying to do? Are we trying to get rid of them, like so many other businesses in Ireland, and hire people to come in and run our airlines? We have had the proud flag of Aer Lingus for many decades and we have the competitor, Ryanair, also. We need to support them and, as far as I am concerned, we need a third airline. We need to open up in that regard. When the late Charlie Haughey and the late Monsignor Horan wanted to develop Knock, what did Enda Kenny and others say? A Fine Gael Minister at the time called it a fog in a bog or something like that but the airport is there. It is a fine international airport but it is under capacity. Cork and Shannon airports are under capacity. Some airlines pulled out of Cork and Shannon, although their names will not come readily to me now. It is time to look around and see what is available because money was never as cheap to borrow. In fact, it can be borrowed at an interest rate of nearly 0%. We need to invest because we need our connectivity. Our country is too small and we are seeing now the impacts of Brexit. Our people need to be able to work all over the world. We are working at jobs all over the world in good industries and helping other economies. Our NGOs travel all over the world. Our sisters and priests went as missionaries all over the world and still do. They do tremendous work, which is recognised all over the world. We might not want to recognise them at home but they are recognised all over the world, and rightly so.

We need to think outside the box here. We need to look at supporting the airlines and at this point in time. The pilots must be supported also because they have families. They have a tough job, which involves being away and then having so much rest time when they come back. Their families have a difficult time but they must be supported now and the airlines must be supported. We are getting pleas for support every day. The Minister of State must be flooded with them. Why are we so out of kilter that we will not support our airlines? Almost every country in the world is supporting their airlines. Previous speakers said that the British Government supported Ryanair because it knew how badly it needed the connectivity. We also need it.

We have lost railway lines. We have lost so much in rural Ireland. This is something we have and that we need to protect and enhance. We are supposed to be all in this together so we must support our airlines and make sure they will be there fit for purpose when, we hope - we had Lá Fhéile Bríde three days ago - on this third day of spring, the pandemic is over. We must look forward. This virus will not be with us always but we must examine the antigen testing. We must look at that model of people who have recovered from Covid and have a certificate to that effect. We must let them come home in the first instance but also let them travel afterwards because people who have had Covid and recovered must be allowed to live. Everyone else is cocooning and frightened to go here or there or do anything but the people who have gone through it must be allowed back into the economy. Otherwise, our economy will not last.

In a few weeks' time, we will have been in this scenario for 12 months. I reiterate that we must look around to see if there are airlines out there or if we have any enterprising entrepreneurs who would be able to buy them and have them ready. They are there and they are well equipped. They are the best of aeroplanes. The orders for Boeing and other aeroplanes were massive. The books were full. Everything is stopped now but if the ones that are sitting in hangars at airports are available and cheap, they should be bought.

With regard to connectivity, Waterford Airport needs upgrading badly, and we need support for it. In terms of Shannon Airport, we have a group in which Deputies Cathal Crowe, McNamara and Carey are involved. We have had many meetings, as Shannon is facing a real problem. We must discourage all the traffic flying into Dublin and divert it down to the country airports.

I am not anti-Dublin but the city is choked and Terminal 2 is full. There is now a plan for massive extensions there again and we know the views of residents about it. Some of them contacted me about noise when we had this debate with the previous Minister, former Deputy Shane Ross. It is not nice. I heard Deputy Durkan say people could close windows if they are double-glazed or triple-glazed but somebody will not stay there in summer with the windows closed. What happens if the people want to sit in or dig in their back garden? As the current Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, might say, there might be some south-facing window boxes in which people might grow some lettuce.

The Minister needs to forget about the lettuce and get serious about developing our economy and airlines. Most of all we must support the pilots. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí; we should encourage more young people to go into pilot training. Deputy Durkan said he took up flying at one stage, which I did not know. I knew he often drove a tractor but I did not think he got into the air. I would be afraid to try flying but the world should be their oyster for young people. When this is over, it should remain their oyster. There are training schools that are ready for investment. Above all, the Minister of State must tell us in her response why funding is not being put into aviation. It is going into private hospitals and a certain beef mogul who owns private hospitals. It is going into Citywest and God knows where else. These are exceptional times but we cannot cut off our connectivity with the rest of the world.

The Taoiseach wants to go to America and our diaspora is abroad. There are people abroad who have recovered from Covid-19, including people from here who are working abroad. They cannot come home. Fair play is fine play with me. The Taoiseach is going to America to encourage thousands of tourists to come here. President Biden is telling us now he is mad about Mayo and Louth and will come here. The tourists will come here but they cannot do so if we do not have proper infrastructure in our airports and aircraft. Above all, they will not come here if we do not have the human resource of pilots, back-up staff, technicians, hostesses and everybody else. It is a big industry and needs major support. It must get this support and it cannot wait much longer for it. We do not want the industry to be diminished in such a way that it will not be there when we are ready to go again.

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