Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a ceapachán. This is an important debate that transcends party politics and Members should be having a rolling debate on it because this is not just about the airlines or airports but is about the workers and the connectivity of the island of Ireland.

The option of testing does not just need to be explored but it needs to be expedited as a matter of urgency. There cannot be any more questions about testing. There must be testing in our airports. We have all concluded and agree that connectivity is critical to us as an island nation. The Minister of State spoke about our success as a country being reliant on international connectivity. Now that we are living with Covid-19 and hopefully post Covid-19, that is absolutely crucial. We all accept that there must a cautious approach and that public health must be at the forefront of what we do. Even if we take Dr. Cillian De Gascun's comment that 30% of testing at airports gets missed or is wrong, however, that still leaves us an option. It is not about when aviation resumes but it is that aviation must resume and rapid testing must be part of that.

This morning, the managing director of Cork Airport said in an interview that preflight testing is essential if we are to save tens of thousands of jobs and he asked how we are to live for the next two years until a vaccine is made available. From a Cork perspective, the routes to London Heathrow and Amsterdam are vital for connectivity. I appreciate that the Minister of State visited Cork Airport. I commend her on her proactivity and thank her for that, in her time as a Minister of State. Cork Airport is a major hub airport. It is Ireland's second international airport and had been the fastest growing airport on the island of Ireland. The figures speak for themselves. There were 23,000 passengers this year compared with 239,000 last year. Some 46 routes operated in 2019 and 25 have operated this year. That paints its own picture. I will make the point I made in this Chamber before. I have been in Cork Airport at least six times since this pandemic began to meet workers, management and ancillary staff. Any Members who have used Cork Airport will fully understand my next sentence. One can hear the wind whistling in the terminal building upstairs in the departures area.

RTÉ news had a report on Monday night on Dublin Airport. There is no pun intended but one could land a jumbo jet inside of the concourse that is its departures area. That is the magnitude of what the country is facing with its aviation sector. I am not flying a flag for the airlines. I am flying a flag for our airports and for the workers who people have spoken about here, who have opted into a voluntary redundancy scheme, who have changed their work practices and who are now on 80% of their work time and are taking pay cuts. Workers in airports have made their decision to keep the airports open and the management teams in the airports have worked night and day. I commend the management teams and workers on and thank them for the work they have done up to now. Pre-departure testing is critical. The economy and people cannot stay cut off from the world for the next two years. Those are not my words, they are the words of the chief executive of Cork Airport this morning. I made the point to the Minister of State yesterday on the Commencement that Cork Airport requires operating expenditure, OPEX. It is the only airport in the country which is not getting State funding in respect of its operations. While I appreciate that there are demands and challenges which the Minister of State and her Department have to face, I am unashamedly speaking for Cork today. There is no point in Cork having a Taoiseach and two Cabinet Ministers if they cannot deliver for Cork Airport as well. I call on the Taoiseach, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to deliver for Cork Airport. They have an obligation to support our airport and they must do so.

I appeal to the Minister of State in the context of Cork and also in the context of our aviation sector. The Minister of State referred to Ireland being an island nation and spoke about connectivity. It is critical that we keep our airports open. To those who say it is about the airlines, it is not. What about the search and rescue missions that have taken place since 16 March? What about the patients who have had to go abroad for transplants and the body parts that had to be delivered for transplant? What about the men and women who have been injured on our oceans in different ways and have had to be landed at an airport? That is why our airports are being kept open. It is critical.

There is a vacancy relating to Cork on the Dublin Airport Authority and it should be filled as a matter of urgency. I will assist the Minister of State in filling that post, if she wishes, because there are very fine candidates from Cork who deserve to be put on the board.

I thank the Minister of State for her proactivity. She has been accessible and proactive, and has made great efforts. I know she is struggling with different competing interests, like every Minister or Minister of State, but this is very important. This is about our people. It is about jobs, north, south, east and west.