Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has moved fast on aviation from a position where he wanted nobody travelling in or out of here after Christmas and was urging me to bring in mandatory hotel quarantining in double quick time, to suddenly turning around and saying it is all the Government's fault.

Covid-19 has decimated travel. The Government has provided a range of services and in particular, we want to get back connectivity to Kerry and Donegal airports as quickly as we possibly can. Good progress is being made on that. This was a sudden announcement by Stobart Air that it had ceased trading. Aer Lingus and BA CityFlyer will operate temporary replacement services, which will cover most of the affected routes operating out of Dublin and Belfast city airports operated by Stobart Air under a franchise agreement with Aer Lingus. This will allow passengers who are affected to return home. Kerry and Donegal airports, as the Deputy knows, have been supported by Government under the PSO arrangement with about €7 million per annum. The current contract is due to expire on 31 January 2022. We discussed the replacement of those PSO services linking Dublin, Donegal and Kerry as quickly as possible at Cabinet today. That is happening in real time.

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