Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I rise to support Aer Lingus workers. The Minister will tell us that the Government has an €80 million aviation plan and that €120 million was given to Aer Lingus by Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF.

What are needed now are direct supports for workers to stave off and stop those job losses in Cork and Shannon airports. The Government must start subventing those jobs, keep the employees on the payroll and ensure they can get through this period of turmoil. It must enable us to retain those jobs in future and save our Aer Lingus airline. That is the important point to be made. I ask the Minister to please not come with the response that he has already given €80 million to the aviation industry, because nothing specifically has been given to the airline sector. People will tell us that schemes, such as the employee wage support scheme, EWSS, and the Covid-19 restrictions support scheme, CRSS, were devised for other sectors. What we want now, though, is to preserve these jobs, keep these people in their uniforms and ensure they can support and sustain their families in the short term until we have the recovery plan.

The other aspect which must be addressed is the report on Covid-19 rapid testing. We must have an honest debate on what the digital green certificate is going to look like. A distinction must be made between what is a PCR test and what is an antigen test. We need to have an honest debate in that context about what antigen testing means. We cannot hide behind the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, in this respect. We must ensure that the best epidemiological advice, as determined globally, is used in respect of travel.

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