Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important debate. The Covid pandemic has devastated the aviation industry, which was at a record high prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. In terms of passenger numbers, Shannon Airport was the second largest long-haul airport and the third largest airport overall in Ireland. Prior to Covid, it added up to €3.6 billion to Ireland's GDP and supported 43,700 jobs. The potential of the airport was not being reached prior to the pandemic and there is real concern it will struggle to emerge from the impact of Covid. The Government has provided life support to Shannon Airport and other airports by means of various supports such as the temporary wage subsidy scheme, the employment wage subsidy scheme and the operational and capital supports provided.

As the Minister of State will be aware, Shannon Airport connects the west of Ireland to the rest of the world. The restoration of connectivity is vital to Shannon Airport, the mid-west and western regions, the business community, including the large footprint of foreign direct investment, FDI, companies the airport serves, and the tourism industry all along the western seaboard. This week marked the long-awaited and welcome return of passenger traffic at Shannon Airport, with eight Ryanair routes now operating. It is my understanding that Ryanair plans to add further destinations to its Shannon Airport schedule ahead of the return of non-essential international travel on 19 July.

Last month, Shannon Airport was served a significant blow with the news that Aer Lingus is to permanently close its cabin crew base. This decision has had and will have a very negative impact on Shannon Airport and the mid-west. There was also the overnight closure of Stobart Air, another blow to aviation. I reiterate my request that the Government use the leverage of its current talks with Aer Lingus in regard to the bailout to reinstate the Aer Lingus cabin crew base at Shannon Airport and that these discussions be used to re-establish connectivity to Heathrow, New York, Boston and a European hub.

Ours is an island nation that depends on air connectivity. While the Government has invested in the vicinity of €300 million in the sector to date, this constituted what were effectively life-support measures. We now desperately need to invest directly in airlines to restore vital strategic routes and ensure the viability of the airlines that provide that connectivity and the jobs they support. Throughout Europe and the wider world, governments have provided billions of euro in state support to safeguard airlines and the jobs and connectivity they provide. As an island nation, why have we as a State not done the same?

We also need to get our heads out of the sand in regard to the use of rapid antigen testing as a tool to reopen international travel and follow the lead of the 17 other European countries that use such tests. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, of which I am a member, has been advocating for the use of rapid antigen testing since last year, and it is deeply disappointing that not even one pilot air corridor using it has been opened. The Minister for Transport should be leading this initiative. I ask the Minister of State to re-engage on the issue of antigen testing and ensure it will be rolled out as a vital tool in reopening international travel.

Shannon Chamber and the Irish Hotels Federation have been engaging with the Minister of State on the number of proposals the Government has developed to help spark a recovery in aviation. They argue that the recovery and growth of Shannon Airport's previously viable air services will require a sustained period of multi-annual funding until at least 2024 and potentially as late as 2029, depending on when air traffic returns to 2019 levels. I strongly support their proposals, which include multi-year capital expenditure funding to enable the smaller State-owned airports, such as Shannon Airport, to navigate their way out of the current crisis; a fixed sum per passenger to subsidise airport charges for airlines, which is the type of funding needed to grow traffic at regional airports; and the provision of a regional route marketing fund allocated to Tourism Ireland, also on a multi-annual basis, as a restoration of Ireland's air services, which is essential to connect our island to global markets that drive our industrial tourism and international services sector.

If the Government is serious about balanced regional development and unlocking the potential of economic drivers such as Shannon Airport, national aviation policy will have to be amended. Prior to Covid, Dublin Airport increased its share of the total number of passengers travelling through Ireland from 73% in 2005 to 86% in 2018. The increasing dominance of Dublin needs to be addressed in a similar way to the approach taken in other states that have implemented policy initiatives to counteract the dominance of the main national airport and mitigate negative impacts on other airports. The Dutch Government, for example, has capped the number of aircraft movements through Schiphol Airport to address the imbalance. The full capacity of Shannon Airport is 4.5 million passengers, yet only 1.8 million passengers used the airport in 2019. If the capacity at Shannon Airport can act as a buffer to Dublin Airport and be an integral part of Irish aviation policy, the synergies will be beneficial to both Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport.

I urge the Minister of State to press ahead with the appointment of a chairperson of the board of Shannon Group. It is of utmost importance that the successful candidate will have a strong background in aviation, business and tourism and a deep understanding of the mid-west and western regions. This is a crucial appointment for Shannon Airport and it is important that the necessary resources be made available to assist the successful candidate in taking on the role of chairperson of Shannon Group to develop a recovery plan for the airport and region in the wake of the pandemic. I ask the Minister of State also to publish the review of the structures of Shannon Group, which was initiated many months ago.

The structures were to be looked at and we were to receive feedback. It is very disappointing that review has not been published and we do not have any idea when it will be. There are obvious issues in relation to Shannon Heritage and where it sits within Shannon Group, which we have brought to the Minister of State's attention. That issue needs to be brought to a conclusion at the earliest opportunity. I ask the Minister of State to respond to the points raised in the course of my contribution.

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