Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to use my time to focus on Shannon Airport. It is the international airport with the longest runway in the country and was first to establish a sensory room, two years ahead of Dublin Airport.

Shannon Airport and its survival is vital to my home county of Clare and the mid-west region. Therefore, the importance of its survival post Covid cannot, and should not, be underestimated. I have attended many meetings in the past week. I have spoken to many of the workers. They are on their knees. They do not have a return-to-work date as yet so they cannot avail of the mortgage relief scheme. The workers and their families are suffering financially, emotionally and mentally, as they do not know what will happen from one week to the next.

We now know with certainty that the separation of Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority by Government has failed drastically. The proof showed itself in the Covid-19 pandemic. We in Sinn Féin, along with the trade unions, opposed separation at the time. We vigorously opposed the privatisation of Aer Lingus in 2015 under Fine Gael and the Labour Party. We argued that it would cost jobs in the long run.

The most recent announcement of Aer Lingus was another blow to the region, following a string of disappointing updates and on top of the hands-off approach of the Minister. The Minister knows that the airport is managed by a private company, Shannon Group. He assured me, in the response to a parliamentary question in July 2020, that he would oversee a review of the Shannon Group. To date we have not received an update on this, there has been no conclusion and no headway has been made. That begs the question, what is the Minister waiting for? It does not spell confidence in the airport or the region. We have heard that the Government is mooting regeneration and balanced regional development. This was an ideal opportunity to put that narrative into action.

There is also the situation around the appointment of the chairperson of Shannon Group and the debacle that ensued then, which was ultimately an embarrassment. A chairperson has yet to be appointed. Why is this the case? Why has Shannon Airport had to wait in the dark for so long? Where is the attention that the airport so rightfully deserves, and more importantly, which its staff and workers deserve, particularly after having endured the past 14 months of hardship?

There is no long-term strategy. Successive Governments have been short-sighted and have failed to produce a national aviation plan, policy or authority. Some 96% of flights leave from Dublin Airport, which is nonsensical. Shannon Airport brought in €3.6 billion to the GDP pre-Covid. It also bolsters 43,7000 jobs in the region. I implore the Minister to deliver the much-needed and much-talked about plan for recovery, as well as the necessary support and to ensure that Shannon Airport is brought back better.

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