Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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43. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the future viability of the aviation industry sector and the thousands of jobs in the sector in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15565/21]

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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My question is the same as Deputy O'Rourke's. It is the only question. What I have heard over the past five minutes has not given any comfort to me or any of the thousands of workers who are watching and concerned about the future viability of their livelihoods and lives. I must ask again what is the view of the Minister of State on the future viability of the aviation industry. The people also want to hear the view of the Minister for Transport on the matter and I would welcome that.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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As I said earlier, the aviation industry is absolutely critical for Ireland and its foreign direct investment, tourism, economy and for the functioning of an island nation. This Government acted quickly when the pandemic broke last year and offered a large range of supports. The airlines and aviation sector have benefited from more than €200 million of that suite of supports.

This is, obviously, an evolving crisis. It is going to take a number of years for the aviation industry to reach pre-Covid-19 levels of international travel. That is the opinion of key analysts and is widely recognised and accepted. It is critical we do everything we can and engage with all the stakeholders on a roadmap to that recovery when the time is right. That is what I am doing with my officials. We are meeting with the national civil aviation forum to work on that roadmap and pathway out when the time is right. There is too much uncertainty. As the Deputy knows, we have mandatory hotel quarantine starting this week in Ireland. We have an epidemiological situation at European and international levels that is concerning. We have done very well in Ireland in managing the virus but we have to ensure continually that we are monitoring it while preparing a roadmap for a route out when the time is right.

There are supports in place and we will continue to engage with the sector, including our airports and airlines. I hear the Deputy's concerns around employment and that is why we have put in place a large range of supports, including the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and commercial rates waivers for the airlines. It is a difficult time and it is only through engaging with the key stakeholders that we will find that roadmap out. It will not be an easy road.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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It will certainly not be an easy road. It is a pretty desolate road at the moment. We have consistently been calling for action. The language is so familiar, as it has been for months. The Minister of State mentioned the fact the EWSS has been put in place, as was the temporary wage subsidy scheme, TWSS, was before that. We are talking about a survival package, a recovery package that is going to protect jobs.

Four Aer Lingus aeroplanes that would otherwise have taken off from Ireland will now be taking off from Manchester. This has been flagged to us on the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications Networks for a long time. It is not going to be like the old days. It will not be a case of rocking up to Dublin Airport to find someone has put a chain on the gates, saying all the jobs are gone. It is not going to be one big event. Jobs are going to go in dribs and drabs. They will be shaved off. That is what is happening. When four aeroplanes that were resident in Ireland go, they are gone and the jobs will go with them. Baggage handlers are going. Fuellers are going. They are going in ones, two, sixes and dozens, but they are going. Their livelihoods are gone. That is happening right now and there is deafening silence from the Government on the issue. It is the same thing over and over again.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I must remind the Deputy of the uncertainty we are facing. We were all hopeful this time last year that we would be out of this pandemic within a number of months but that has not been the case. As I said, the Government acted fast by putting in supports and those measures are still there, including PUP, EWSS, and the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS. All of those are also available to the aviation sector.

I know many people have lost their jobs. It is a really difficult time for many families. We need to try to protect as many jobs as we can, not only in the aviation sector but in every sector. That is done through the broad range of supports that are available across sectors, including the aviation industry.

Working with the aviation stakeholders around what the recovery will look like is critical and that is what I am doing with my Department. It is difficult to see what that recovery will look like now, when we are in the middle of the pandemic, but that work is ongoing and proposals will be brought forward over the coming weeks.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Our concern is there will be thousands of workers who will be outside the industry and looking in at that recovery in a couple of years' time because they have been let go. The workers are asking for a safe return to travel, as we have all been asking for. We want a roadmap back with clearly defined public health guidelines and milestones. That is not easy, we know that, but the European Commission is working on a digital green pass, albeit there is a lot more detail to come on that. The Taoiseach stated earlier he is supportive of that and it is offering some light at the end of the tunnel. However, we need our Government to provide a proper roadmap. We do not need Government Senators pouring honey into the ears of workers out there when the Government of which they are a part is doing very little to provide a roadmap. Every single worker in the aviation industry, from the ground to the cockpit, knows they are going to be the last industry to come back. They know that and have known it since the former Taoiseach made his speech in Washington last year. Those workers want and deserve a roadmap. They also deserve supports because their jobs and livelihoods are going to be gone.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am equally concerned about protecting people's jobs. That is why I am engaging with the aviation sector, those who are at the coalface within the industry, around what that reopening will look like when the public heath advice is there. Now is the time to be working on that and to protect as many jobs as possible. That is the work I am doing with my officials within the national civil aviation forum. There is a subgroup relating to bringing back proposals around what that reopening will look like.

I must reiterate that it is a very uncertain time within a number of sectors. We know there are going to be changes and this is a moving roadmap as to what recovery will look like. In the meantime, we must try to support the industry as best we can and support that connectivity. We must support our airports so that they are able to rebound as easily and quickly as possible when the time is right. We must also protect as many jobs as possible, not just in aviation but in every other sector that depends on it.