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

Aer Lingus today announced an expansion of its air services from Manchester. I saw a communication sent within the company which offered staff here the opportunity to move to Manchester and base themselves there on local terms and conditions, that is, Manchester terms and conditions. That is deeply concerning for those workers. It has been said that this is happening because there is such uncertainty regarding the Irish response and commitment to the aviation sector. It really indicates that those companies want a response from the Government that gives them a clear outline of what the future holds. We know Covid is very difficult, but Air New Zealand got an investment of $900 million, while Air France got €7 billion and Lufthansa got €10 billion. I ask the Minister of State to give confidence to workers in the sector that their position is secure and to outline in clear terms that a plan is in place for the recovery of the sector.

See this speech in context