Results 18,181-18,200 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: Colleagues have made similar points. The last time there was investment in the runway in Cork was thirty-odd years ago. Obviously we must continue to invest in infrastructure to make sure that it is up to date and safe. To go back to what I said earlier, it is my expectation that we will decide on these matters relatively quickly. That sort of project is one which would fit into an NDP...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I will respond quickly to that and back up what Dr. De Gascun said yesterday. It is important that our health officials are fully confident that the use of antigen testing does not pose a risk to public health. The advice for the moment is that it is not safe but that advice is subject to change. Indeed, we should be flexible and open to change when evidence allows. As I understand it,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I have engaged in a series of meetings at European Council, OECD and World Economic Forum levels on this issue because it is one that is faced across the world.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I have had discussions with Mr. Philips. The DAA has done a very good job by being proactive here. On the issue of whether the airport might need planning permission if we were to introduce testing facilities there, to be honest it only came to my desk in the past week. I understand that we have to consider with Fingal County Council whether the council needs to make an adjustment or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: Yes, absolutely. However, as I said, it might not be the only location.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: If somebody is coming here for five days, the person may not have to go to the airport.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: As I said, it must be in conjunction with good health advice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: We have a confirmed framework for the green light system at present. We will have a framework for the amber system by Sunday evening, 8 November. Within a short number of weeks after that, I expect we will have a framework for the red list countries. There was a Government decision to take this approach. We listen to the advice of the health authorities, obviously. I was listening to Dr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with what he said yesterday. I do not believe we can second-guess that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: I do not believe he did either yesterday.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: That is the correct approach. As I said at the end, what everybody who is travelling wants is for it to be safe and they want to know they are not contributing to the problem. Heeding the advice in this instance makes sense.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The Government decision was quite quick. The European decision was only made on 13 October and the following week we went to Cabinet with a decision and set the deadline of 8 November because we recognised it would take time to change the passenger form and ensure the other arrangements were in place. It will take slightly longer to make arrangements for the red list which is there. We are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: When responding to earlier questions, I said that we are open to looking at additional supports for Shannon and have made a series of supports available to the airport because it is so significant for the surrounding region. The fixed-sum-per-passenger mechanism might apply. We might have a waiver on landing charges or some other mechanism. It could be done through an operational...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: As I said earlier when responding to Deputy O'Connor, this needs to happen in the coming weeks not months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The system in this country works on a voluntary compliance basis. There is no international regulation stating what is certified and what exactly a PCR test is - although there is clear differentiation between antigen, LAMP and PCR tests. Because it is changing and because the virus has come at a certain pace and so on, it is not an area in which there is absolute off-the-shelf regulatory...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: The three-day requirement will be for people coming into the country. It is in another jurisdiction that that test-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: No.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: One of the reasons we wanted to hold back on that was until we had, as Dr. Holohan said yesterday, the arrangements between the Department of Health, the Department of Transport and others. One of the benefits of my being here today is to set that out. There is considerable confusion and uncertainty on this. We did not want to add to that. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: As Dr. Holohan and others have said, most of the reductions we have seen in the past two weeks since we moved to level 5 relate back to the level 3 restrictions, we had prior to that. The best scientific advice suggests it takes ten days or two weeks before we start to see the impact of a particular measure. While we need to keep adjusting to this, that gives me some hope - if no more than...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Affecting the Aviation Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Nov 2020)

Eamon Ryan: My preference is that it would be before then. It has to be sooner than that.