Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome. It is nice to see her and I congratulate her on her appointment. Like me, she was a member of the eighth amendment committee. I remember her as a constructive voice on that committee. It is good to have her in her current role and I wish her well.

I will start with the point raised by Senator Craughwell concerning Aer Lingus. It was a fundamental mistake to sell off the remaining stake in Aer Lingus. Indeed, it was a fundamental mistake to sell off the company in the first place. We have seen how our lack of leverage at this crucial time has played out. We have seen the struggle that Aer Lingus workers have experienced just to get social welfare supports from the company.

Last week, my colleague spoke to the Minister of State's colleague about how the final stake in Aer Lingus had been sold off for €335 million. That money was put into the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF. We have checked - only €90 million of that fund has been spent. Clearly, Aer Lingus will need a capital injection. Should we not be actively considering retaking a stake in the company? Instead of just throwing money at the company to keep it in Ireland, why do we not buy a stake? We would get very good value right now and it would enable us to have a greater impact, not just in keeping the Heathrow slots in Shannon, but on the wider issue of climate change and how the company responded to same. It would be the right time to do that.

A key theme that I will keep raising is the need for new thinking. We are in an incredible crisis. The Minister of State has outlined some of the supports available to airports, which are welcome. She will know that there is a difference of opinion between Sinn Féin and the Government regarding the change from the temporary wage subsidy scheme to the emergency wage subsidy scheme. It was a retrograde step and the support should have been continued. However, I acknowledge that important supports are in place. They are simply not enough. Will the Minister of State say whether the Government is actively considering a stake in Aer Lingus? I would encourage it to.

She mentioned the green list, which I will reference briefly. We subscribe to the idea of a European green list, but we have a concern. Ireland needs to be ready in terms of testing and tracing at airports when the list comes into place. The Government has not as yet outlined its plans and preparations in that regard. It would be a pity if, having subscribed to the green list, our resources were found wanting. I take Senator Dooley's point about trying to relocate people, but perhaps we need to prepare workers to come back in and help with the crucial testing and tracing work, if possible. I hope it will not surprise the Minister of State that the key theme I wish to discuss is that of Shannon Airport, and not just because I am the only Limerick representative in the Chamber. Shannon has been poorly served by successive Governments. I welcome Senator Conway's comments on the major mistake - let us be clear that it was a mistake - made in separating Shannon. I will provide clarity lest anyone believe it was not a mistake. Let us consider the importance of Shannon versus Cork. Cork has its own concerns, but its passenger numbers increased by 7.7% in 2016. Shannon's increased by 2%. In 2017, there was effectively no increase in Shannon whereas there was a 3.5% increase in Cork. In 2018, there was a 6.5% increase in Shannon versus 3.7% in Cork. Last year, there was a decrease of 8% in Shannon. In 2019, Cork had 2.5 million passengers and Shannon had 1.7 million. Cork is within the DAA umbrella whereas Shannon, as an independent airport, has failed.

I am glad that we were on record at the time, and have been consistently ever since, that it was a major mistake to separate Shannon. The workers in the airport and their trade unions have been clear. At a recent meeting with the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, they once again made the case for reintegrating Shannon into the DAA. I am worried, though, because the Minister's response to that key question for the workers and their families and for the future of the airport was that it would take two to three years to do so. He stated that he honestly did not believe the Government would do it. I appeal to the Minister of State and her colleague to engage in new thinking on this issue. As I have just demonstrated through those figures, the current model is fundamentally broken. This is not an issue of political ideology, but of common sense. Shannon does not have the leverage to win deals with international airlines by itself. It cannot compete with Dublin on its own, a point echoed by Senator Conway.

The only way that we will rebuild aviation when the Covid crisis ends - please God, that will be next year - is through collective leverage. This means reintegrating Shannon into the DAA alongside Cork. It might also mean including Ireland West Airport Knock, given my concerns for its future as well. We would use that collective leverage to ensure proper regional balance.

Here is the stark fact. The airport workers know it. They have said it to me, as have the trade unions. If there is not a fundamental change in policy and the Government does not recognise the folly of leaving Shannon as a stand-alone airport, those Heathrow slots will go in the next six months. Shannon does not have the leverage to keep them. Ryanair and Aer Lingus have threatened to close down for the winter entirely and we do not know whether they would come back. However, we do know that the collective leverage of Dublin, Shannon, Cork and Ireland West Airport Knock would enable us to tell Aer Lingus that, although it could come back, it would have to ensure that, as it rebuilt its flights, it included Shannon and Cork. Without that, we will be left behind.Without that, in the very same way we will not have enough leverage to keep those crucial flights to the east coast of America.

The review is ongoing for Shannon and to be honest, I do not understand why. We know what needs to be done and one of the frustrations is that, to date, we really have not got any concrete answers. In her speech today the Minister of State has referred to things we hope will happen in the near future but she did not deal with the crucial point on Shannon's place within the airport network. I ask her to do that today, while taking on board not just my concerns but the concerns echoed by Senator Conway. I know Senator Dooley is on record as having similar concerns and my colleague, Deputy Wynne, has been the clearest of all representatives in Clare saying that the current model is fundamentally wrong and that Shannon must be reintegrated into DAA.

I take no pleasure in saying we will all lose if Shannon continues to fail. If the Minister of State and her colleague, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, do not take issue on this matter and recognise what has not worked over the past seven years before reintegrating Shannon into the DAA structure, we will lose Shannon as an international airport. That is not an exaggeration but it is a fact. The Minister of State does not have to take my word for it. She can speak to the workers at Shannon Airport or their trade unions and they will say this in the clearest possible terms.

I appeal to the Minister of State and other representatives across the west and mid-west to echo my call to bring Shannon back into an integrated network of airports in order that we can use the collective leverage of all to ensure a future for Shannon and the west.