Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the short time I have, I will focus on aviation, albeit in the context of tourism. Cork is a great destination and I hope everyone will take the time to visit.

The aviation sector has taken a ferocious hit during the pandemic, there is no doubt about it. It is a resilient industry. Indeed, I think we can all expect that many of the big airlines will return to very considerable profitability quite soon. In the meantime, however, we need to ensure that our airports and workers are supported and protected. They must be given the supports that they need to recover. The Minister of State will have heard this before, and I am sure her Department and the Government are considering the need for additional capital expenditure, CAPEX, and operating expenditure, OPEX, funding streams, but - and I have been making this point for about a year now, or perhaps longer - it is vitally important that the funding to be provided for two,or, more likely, three years, because it will take that long for aviation to recover and to ensure that all the workers who would have had full-time hours in 2018 and 2019 can get back up to that and we have a commensurate level of employment. We need that commitment for several years.

It is not just about businesses. For me, the key focus is the tens of thousands of employees in the industry. Cork Airport employs 2,200 people directly and 10,000 indirectly, and many more benefit in different ways. It is a crucial employer and link for Cork and the region. I must admit that I was a bit frustrated by the fact that I and others spent months in the spring calling for the provision of supports to prevent Aer Lingus workers from being made redundant during the runway works at Cork Airport. We did not see any urgent action taken by the Minister for Transport. It was the campaigning of the union and workers that led to the issue being resolved. I commend them on that. It highlights is the need to continue the provision of the EWSS well into the summer, at a minimum, for sectors such as aviation, because it will take that amount of time for employees to get back to working full-time. Cork Airport staff need that. The airport needs certainty and funding for the next three years. It also needs a sort of air traffic recovery stimulus package to encourage routes and connectivity.

Finally, I raise the fact that baggage handlers in our airports do not have a sectoral employment order to give them stability and security in pay. Although such orders exist in other parts of the aviation industry, it does not exist for baggage handlers. We need to consider it.

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