Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

For the sake of the music, aviation and hospitality sectors and all the people around Ireland who depend on the Minister, I hope "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen, the favourite song of her party leader, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, is not her favourite song too. I hope her favourite song is "See the Lights" by Simple Minds or "Come Fly with Me" by Billy May.

The impact of Covid-19 on Ireland’s tourism industry and throughout the world has been catastrophic. We are dependent on international visitors. The aviation industry is key to this because hospitality is dependent on connectivity. Hospitality is our biggest regional employer and the industry showed unbelievable resilience during the pandemic. It embraced what it could do as opposed to what it could not do. Businesses set up takeaway services in outdoor areas and they have my admiration for what they achieved. I was delighted to see that Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel & Spa in Limerick received an international award for its outdoor dining and vision for the region. I was proud to see that.

VAT needs to remain at 9% and there must be guaranteed certainty around the current rate for the hospitality sector. I have asked several times for the appointment of a dedicated Minister for tourism who would track, liaise and support this very valuable industry, through motivation and proven targets. The stimulus to kick-start the hospitality industry needs to come from the Minister. The employment wage subsidy scheme for tourism needs to be continued at least into next summer because we can see what the hotel sector and other industries have suffered through the pandemic. Yes, they have had a good year since the summer but given the losses they incurred and the need to reboot their businesses, it is very important that the scheme remains in place.

I welcome the recent appointment of the chairperson of Shannon Group, Mr. Pádraig Ó Céidigh. I wish him well in the challenges ahead, many of which existed prior to this pandemic. I met Pádraig last night and we had a half-hour discussion here in Leinster House. It was my first time meeting him. One of the first questions I asked him related to his background, which is absolutely exceptional. We discussed different areas of his background but what stood out to me were his education, the way he conducts himself and the vision he portrayed to me last night, which was unbelievable. Moreover, he was once self-employed, something that is lacking at the Cabinet table, where we need that in the mix.

I also met Ms Mary Considine, the CEO of Shannon Group, at Limerick Chamber to talk about the common sense and the vision we have for Limerick, Shannon and the surrounding areas in order that the airport can contribute to the region. A total of 143,000 people work in the aviation industry, while 270,000 people are employed in tourism, 50,000 of them in the mid-west. Shannon Airport needs an airline stimulus package to encourage and rebuild air traffic. It also needs to be included in the regional airport programme of state aid for airports handling under 3 million passengers a year.

I made this point 12 months ago and I do so every time we talk about aviation. The only way aviation can prosper in this country is through the dispersion of traffic. Other Deputies talked about what has happened in regard to Dublin Airport, but a projected 15 million passengers will pass through that airport's gates this year. Shannon Airport will have somewhere in the region of 350,000, or 19% of its traffic pre-2019. Likewise, Cork Airport will have in the region of 35% of its pre-2019 traffic, or about 850,000 passengers. I welcome the expansion of any airport, but any airport that is expanded, such as Dublin Airport, has to be subject to a dispersion of traffic. If it wants to increase its number of passengers by 3 million, it should have to give 10% to the regional airports. That would mean the likes of Shannon Airport could return to its pre-Covid figure of 1.8 million and we could build it up to 3 million and more, which it has the capacity to do. The same is true of the likes of Cork Airport.

I live in a parish called Rahanagh, five minutes off the main road. It is located 10 miles from the Cork border but it would take me one hour and 45 minutes to travel to Cork Airport. If I had to travel to Shannon Airport, it would take me between 38 and 40 minutes, depending on whether I was caught in traffic coming onto the N20 at Anhid Cross. I can travel to Dublin Airport, however, in two hours and ten minutes. That means the proper road infrastructure is there. Farmers and industry have been held to ransom for 19 years and they cannot build for their future because there is a proposal to build a road, the N20-M20, on their land. One farmer I talked to said the road is planned right next to his farmhouse and he does not know where he can build for his children's future. We need funding and connectivity for future-proofing, not only for Shannon Airport and Cork Airport but also for Dublin Airport. We need connectivity but also balance in order that we will all get a piece of the pie. In that way, the likes of Shannon Airport will not need to be subsidised. There will be more than 3 million passengers and the airport will be well able to subsidise itself.

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