Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to add my voice to those of other Deputies. We need to be cognisant of the real and genuine fear in the aviation industry about the potential for thousands of job losses over the coming months. There is a genuine fear that this pandemic is being used by some companies in the aviation industry to effectively restructure, get rid of jobs with good terms and conditions and then seek to replace them in the future with lower pay and conditions. In terms of its approach, there is no way the Government can stand back from that. It needs to address that serious fear.

Every time a Government representative responds to questions about job losses on the airwaves or elsewhere, the key message is always about job losses in other European countries. It is as if those involved are seeking to somewhat normalise the job losses here. The Government is not responsible for what happens in other countries. It is responsible for our jobs, our workers and our aviation industry. When workers are losing their jobs, the Government should not seek to normalise it by saying jobs are being lost in other European countries. It is the business of governments in those countries to answer for that.

The report of the aviation recovery task force was published almost a year ago, on 7 July 2020. Only two of its 12 recommendations have been implemented. One of those two recommendations is not specific to the aviation sector. The other has been implemented intermittently. The task force reported ahead of schedule, did its job and worked constructively. We need to know from the Government why it has not implemented those recommendations.

An excellent article in The Currencycarried interviews with people in the aviation industry. There is a real fear that because the Irish aviation industry has done so well in the past and until recently, that the Government feels a hands-off approach is okay. They are worried about that attitude.

The digital green certificate will come in on 19 July. We do not yet have details about it. The general public does not know how it will operate, how they can access it or if it will be applied to the US and Canada. It is vital that confidence among the public is rebuilt in travel and aviation. How can we rebuild confidence when people do not know the picture with regard to the digital screen certificate on 19 July? People plan ahead for months when they are booking flights. The sooner we get that information out will be critically important to the recovery.

One recommendation of the aviation task force stated an efficient and effective track-and-trace system was needed for opening up. Why has this not been implemented? What are the Government's plans in that regard? The track-and-trace system is important for aviation and other sectors. Vaccination will do most of the work in building up public confidence. However, those sorts of measures around track-and-trace are important as well. There is pent-up demand for travel and people who will want to travel abroad straight away. We are also going to see a significant number of people who will be hesitant and fearful. That is why the measures which build confidence and the information around that are so important. We must make the most out of the digital green certificate on 19 July by getting that information out to people as quickly as possible. This will restore confidence and underpin the recovery. I appeal to the Government to be much more proactive in terms of jobs losses, especially in the context of the fight to retain terms and conditions in the sector.

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