Results 6,281-6,300 of 6,816 for speaker:Darren O'Rourke

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: I am struck by the equivocation on testing and I am wondering if Dr. Holohan is worried that people will have a false sense of security if they were tested on their way into the country. In the context of the information he has given, we were at low levels during the summer months, with 25% of cases associated with foreign travel, yet people could come in from red zone countries, essentially...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: I appreciate that but, in terms of the suite of measures that Dr. Holohan has at his disposal, I would have thought of such use of a PCR test. For example, why do we test at all? Is not partly to identify the virus? We are not doing that at our airports at the minute.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: Would we not still be better off than where we are at the minute?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: That was specifically my question. I refer to the false sense of security. It strikes me as surprising that Dr. Holohan is not being explicit in terms of a recommendation on the testing, which is an important component of the framework in terms of our identifying, tracking, tracing and dealing with Covid-19 but it seems to be a blind spot in terms of ports and airports. At the same time, we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: I take that point, but does testing have an important role to play in the suite of measures we are taking, including-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: -----at ports and airports?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: If Dr. Holohan were to prescribe to our airport authorities a suite of checks and controls that would help him in his work in identifying, tracking and tracing Covid-19 on the island of Ireland, what would he prescribe?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: We are already missing them. We have been missing them-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Nov 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: -----for the past six months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: General Scheme of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: I thank the witnesses. My question is for Dr. Glynn. Recommendation No. 12 in his submission calls for the Bill to explicitly define the method used to calculate the warming effect of each greenhouse gas as a proportion of the carbon budget and which gases, if any, will not be included in the carbon budgets. The Climate Change Advisory Council has recommended a split national target for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: General Scheme of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: As the nature of the science is to change over time, is there an argument that to be prescriptive at the outset is to leave ourselves in a position where we might be revisiting this legislation or be hostages to fortune in the future?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: I thank the witnesses. I will start with a question for both Ryanair and Aer Lingus. Since we last met there has been some progress on the traffic light system and some commitment regarding pre-departure testing, but not much movement. However, there has been significant backward movement in the spread of Covid-19 across the Continent. In a best case scenario and if everything Mr. Wilson...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: To what degree-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: My question relates to the best-case scenario.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: Has Mr. Wilson a sense of pent-up demand?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: Whether it is visiting friends and relatives, business or tourism and hospitality, there is obviously restricted opportunity to do anything if one is travelling abroad or coming to Ireland. Is there any sense of a pent-up demand and, if so, where is it relative to other years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: Okay. I put the same question to Mr. Moriarty about a best-case scenario and the opportunities for 2021.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: Does Mr. Moriarty believe that his case his helped by coming here this morning and saying that there is a one in 27 million chance of transmission of the virus onboard an aircraft? That is completely not credible. I have looked at the IATA evidence, which indicates that it is not possible to give an exact estimation and that the figure is only based on published reports. Is it credible for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: I have it. The report also says that there is no way to establish an exact tally of possible flight-associated cases. Does it not say this also?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Oct 2020)

Darren O'Rourke: It does. I can tell Mr. Moriarty that it does.