Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The aviation industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors and that was unavoidable. However, staff and unions have been warning that jobs would be lost without a proper plan and appropriate supports. The closure of Stobart Air brings this reality home and highlights the vulnerability of our airports. In the past year, Cork and Shannon regional airports have been hit with losses. Job losses in airports are being disproportionately felt by precarious workers such as cabin crew, which is also a disproportionately female workforce. We saw the closure of the cabin crew base in Shannon and a temporary lay-off of staff in Cork has also been announced. To add insult to injury, staff are also facing a 20% pay cut and the removal of sick pay. Small employers in west Cork and everywhere are going above and beyond in their efforts to retain their staff with the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS. Why is an international airline not doing the same? How will the Minister of State respond to ensure the protection of these jobs, and especially the more precarious ones, such as cabin crew?

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