Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We need both the State and stakeholders to work together to ensure airlines support these industries. I am surprised that in the comprehensive address made by the Minister of State, she did not mention the potential kite flying by Aer Lingus of building some of its operations in the UK and bypassing Shannon in the process. It looks like under the cover of Covid-19, Aer Lingus is moving to cost-cutting or savings measures by going to the UK. I thought the Minister of State would have addressed the subject.

I echo the points made by my colleague, Senator Gavan, on the selling of our stake in Aer Lingus and privatising our national airline. When we see the kite flying I have mentioned, it seems such a sale has left us in a position where we do not really have leverage. A key element such as transatlantic flights from Shannon could potentially move to the north of England and there is very little leverage for us to exercise with Aer Lingus. We made that mistake and people pointed it out at the time. The country has a small, open economy that is highly reliant on the aviation industry for connectivity and transformation.We lost that key leverage.

I will not take the full eight minutes but I will leave the Minister of State with this point. It is a key point to support the aviation industry and regional airports. It is vital for regional development. Anything we do should be conditional on supporting workers. It is inevitable that there will be some job losses because of the shock to the industry but we must ensure any State support given is on the condition that workers involved in the aviation industry or its connected retail sector in airports are protected. They must not be left thrown out on the streets with just statutory redundancy.