Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and congratulate him on is recent appointment. I cannot overstate the impact that the pandemic is having on the aviation sector and all the ancillary businesses surrounding it, such as hospitality, tourism and business life in general. I can speak, with some level of experience, from the Clare perspective in the mid-west region, where Shannon Airport has been central to economic life for many generations. The unexpected fallout from Covid-19 has been devastating to the airport and the wider region. It has been devastating for those who work in the airport and in the hospitality and tourism sector, for example, in hotels, guesthouses and tourist attractions like pet farms overlooking the Cliffs of Moher. They have all been really impacted by the reduction in tourist numbers coming into the country, and we know why that is the case. That is the context in which I make my comments.

We have work to do in the short term to address the significant fallout from the pandemic for employees of Shannon Airport. Many of them are temporarily laid off or are back at work part time. They are finding it impossible to meet their financial commitments, notwithstanding the temporary wage subsidy scheme, and are struggling to survive. Workers had a standard of living built up around expected income. They are now under pressure which they never would have expected with mortgage repayments, education fees, car loans and all the normal expenditure. I am not saying that they work in a protected sector, but the workers would never have experienced anything like this before. There are people who have always known that they work in a precarious environment, but this is not the case with the employees of Shannon Airport. It has been a bolt out of the blue for those working for the airlines and in the airport.

We must look at how we can assist these workers immediately, in recognition of the fact that aviation activity is not going to resume soon. Earlier this week it struck me that we should try to find meaningful employment for airport workers in the short term.I facilitated a meeting between senior management in both the HSE and the airport to ascertain whether staff temporarily laid off or in part-time work could avail of work opportunities in the HSE on the contact tracing side, if staff were prepared to do so. Both officials from the HSE and the airport are working to see if that can happen. Contact tracing work would be a small relief to some but we must think imaginatively as to how we can provide more assistance.

At some point there will be a vaccine or cure, so some degree of aviation activity will begin again. We must ensure during the ramp-up period that airlines do not go for the easy touch and operate all of the services out of the main airport of Dublin because such a move would kill regional development and give us no chance in the west, mid-west or south to recover in that regard. Even before the pandemic, the vast bulk of international aviation was going through Dublin. Shannon was not even keeping pace with the growth in tourism and was on the back foot anyway. We can debate the reasons that was the case and it would be an interesting debate.

The Minister of State has spoken about considering the future of regional airports and analysing where they sit overall and has stated we need to develop a policy. Let us do all that but first we must address the crisis. It is important that we provide certainty to the airports that we will stand behind them in this difficult time. We must provide certainty to the airlines on key routes, which I believe the Minister of State referred to as "core routes" in her statement. There will be a debate about that because not every route can be supported so we must consider the strategic routes. I put it to the Minister of State that the principal business and tourism routes are Shannon to Heathrow in England and from Shannon to New York and Boston on the east coast of the United States. People who live in my area will say that it is important to have support for the Shannon to Marbella route because they may have a holiday in the region. I will not advance that argument but instead call for support to be given to the key routes that are important for tourism and business, thus giving Shannon Airport, the airport of the mid-west, a chance to remain in existence during both this very difficult period and the really difficult time to come, when economic activity starts to ramp up again and when aviation resumes on a European and worldwide basis.

The Minister of State referred in her contribution to the PSO model that already exists for regional airports. We will have to consider it again in terms of domestic and international aviation links. As she said, we are an island so it is not just flights within Ireland but key routes. It will be a vexed debate but a necessary one because it is vitally important that we retain the key routes of connectivity into the region.

Regional development on the west coast had fallen behind. Some of the investment in road infrastructure was challenging and for far too long, we had been taking a backwards step in not giving more attention to developing the airfield. From a Shannon point of view, the focus of the Shannon Group, which is an amalgamation of the old Shannon Development properties, the airport and the tourism business, was on how well the property side was going. There was a failure to recognise that the airport is the driver of so much activity. The airport ensures that American golfers and tourists come here. These visitors walk along the Wild Atlantic Way, play golf along the western seaboard, stay in places like Dromoland Castle, the Clare Inn and many other hotels throughout County Clare. In terms of tourism, hospitality and aviation, we now need to identify what has been lost and what can be retained and to provide support for that, as well as what will be the key building blocks for the recovery phase.

There is another side, namely, the leasing business, which the Minister of State has talked about. Shannon was one of the cornerstones of aircraft leasing in this country through Guinness Peat Aviation, GPA, which went on to be a failed organisation. However, GPA left behind the seeds of very significant growth for that sector and was ahead of its time. As an entity it may not have been successful but it was a huge impetus for the development of the sector and industry in Ireland, which benefited the region. We need to consider ways to support the sector through this very difficult time whether that is through taxation measures or whatever.I am conscious that people in that sector were involved in that forum and have ideas about it.

The Minister of State has noted that we are going to sign up to the European measures that are being introduced. It is really important that we do that. Some countries have indicated a desire to opt out. We need to fully opt in. For our own sake we must be at the forefront of accepting those measures and ensuring pan-European standards are met. Opting out of certain measures would be harmful. It is very clear from all the evidence emerging from the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, and elsewhere that Covid-19 will be with us for a considerable period of time. We will have to quickly pivot towards re-establishing economic activity. We must have parallel strategies to manage our economy as effectively as we can while limiting the spread of the virus to the greatest extent possible. There is a gamut of voices in the media, including medical professionals. The other night I listened with some amazement to one commentator who said we could suppress the virus completely if we all retreated into bunkers and let no-one into or out of the country. That thinking must be challenged vigorously, because such a course would be devastating for our economic life and the mental health of most people in this country. We must be very careful about that, but that debate is for another day.