Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before Covid-19, officials in my Department had commenced scoping work on a new national aviation policy. Unfortunately, that work has been on hold since 2020 for obvious reasons, that is, due to a focus on the detrimental impact of the pandemic. While we can now see the evidence that the recovery is under way, focus and resources have been diverted towards other objectives, including the terrible situation in Ukraine and the resultant restrictive measures that have been adopted in respect of the Russian Federation.

My Department hopes to resume work on a new national aviation policy before the end of 2022. Despite the delay in this work, however, the current national aviation policy, published in August 2015, continues to guide aviation policy. The principal goals of the policy are to enhance Ireland's connectivity, to foster the growth of aviation enterprise and to maximise the contribution of aviation to Ireland's sustainable economic growth and development.

Traditionally, Ireland has maintained a liberal aviation policy. That approach has served the country well. Before the pandemic, Ireland had air services to close to 200 destinations. While acknowledging that many of the objectives of the original national aviation policy remain valid, we also acknowledge that much has changed since 2015 in respect of the overall challenges for the aviation sector in Ireland, with a focus on continued recovery from the pandemic and a need to meet the decarbonisation goals necessary to achieve our climate ambitions.

The programme for Government acknowledges the value of aviation in supporting economic development, international connectivity and tourism and commits to delivering the capital programmes required to support services and to ensure safety at our State and regional airports. That is achieved primarily through the two schemes administered by my Department, namely the regional airports capital expenditure grant scheme and a core airport management operational expenditure subvention scheme. Those supports, along with the Covid-specific aviation supports provided, have ensured that our airports are well positioned in stimulating their recovery from the effects of the pandemic. Recent statistics indicate that, in respect of regional airport performance, smaller airports are closer to their 2019 scheduled seat capacity levels.

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