Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said earlier, the aviation industry is absolutely critical for Ireland and its foreign direct investment, tourism, economy and for the functioning of an island nation. This Government acted quickly when the pandemic broke last year and offered a large range of supports. The airlines and aviation sector have benefited from more than €200 million of that suite of supports.

This is, obviously, an evolving crisis. It is going to take a number of years for the aviation industry to reach pre-Covid-19 levels of international travel. That is the opinion of key analysts and is widely recognised and accepted. It is critical we do everything we can and engage with all the stakeholders on a roadmap to that recovery when the time is right. That is what I am doing with my officials. We are meeting with the national civil aviation forum to work on that roadmap and pathway out when the time is right. There is too much uncertainty. As the Deputy knows, we have mandatory hotel quarantine starting this week in Ireland. We have an epidemiological situation at European and international levels that is concerning. We have done very well in Ireland in managing the virus but we have to ensure continually that we are monitoring it while preparing a roadmap for a route out when the time is right.

There are supports in place and we will continue to engage with the sector, including our airports and airlines. I hear the Deputy's concerns around employment and that is why we have put in place a large range of supports, including the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and commercial rates waivers for the airlines. It is a difficult time and it is only through engaging with the key stakeholders that we will find that roadmap out. It will not be an easy road.

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