Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that the numbers are down significantly but the risk is not a relative one. It is not a year-on-year comparison. The risk is a real one, given the numbers coming through. If we do not have an adequate system of checks and controls, it will not matter how few are travelling here. All that matters is how many come to Ireland with Covid, particularly its variants.

I wish to raise the related issue of the aviation and travel sectors and the supports for same, given the public health measures' significant impact on them. The Government's approach has not just failed to protect the population from further infection but has also done no favours for the aviation and travel sectors. Pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and travel agents have raised issues. They appeared before a committee yesterday. Significant proposals have been made. The Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, has pointed to other countries. For example, there has been a $900 million investment in Air New Zealand. Air France has got €7 billion and Lufthansa €10 billion. Fórsa, SIPTU and Connect Trade Union pointed towards a sector-specific intervention and supports based on the German model. When I asked parliamentary questions last week, I was given no figures for the supports for individual airlines. I read in the newspapers that the figure was €150 million. Is that the case and has it been provided? What scale of support is available for individual airlines and, as importantly, workers in the sector? What will the Government do?

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