Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We should go back to the model that existed prior to the DAA, which was Aer Rianta. This would be the way. This is where we need to go in terms of the review talked about in the amendment. This is the outcome I would like to see from the process. We should come to the point that the three airports are together, not named according to one particular airport or another but with an overall authority. This could give us what we need.

The Minister of State is right with regard to the assets of the old Shannon Development in the Shannon Free Zone. Anybody who works there does not want to see it transferred to the Dublin Airport Authority because they do not think it will be well managed or maintained at that distance. Shannon Heritage certainly does not need to be transferred back to the DAA and I am against this. Senator Gavan and I have had numerous discussions with workers at Shannon Heritage. We really need to come up with a solution there. I remain to be convinced on whether the assets should be divided between the two local authorities and managed as part of the other important tourism infrastructure there or whether they should go to the Office of Public Works. Some work has to be done. We know it does not sit well as part of the airport at present. Many workers there need a sense of security and to know where Shannon Heritage is going, what is on offer and where it will be over time.

The airport itself is in a very perilous situation because of Covid. As I have identified, it was already in trouble but now with the Covid pandemic, and no end in sight of when we will get international aviation back, it is deeply worrying for the staff. Senator Gavan is right when he says workers have not been mentioned too often in this regard. I know workers are saying that if they could get back under the DAA it would give them security in the short term. Quite frankly, this can be provided in a different way. The State needs to step in. Workers at Shannon Airport cannot be treated in a lesser fashion than workers at Dublin Airport. When separation took place and they were transferred from one State entity to another there was a legitimate expectation in terms of pay increases, pension entitlements and exit packages. I know people who recently took an exit package and it was not as good as what was available for workers at Dublin Airport. That is wrong.

As has Senator Gavan, I have spoken to quite a few of the workers on temporary short time or temporary lay off who are not able to pay the bills, quite frankly. They are not able to make ends meet. This also happens in other sectors so it is not exclusive to airport workers. They are in a very perilous situation. In recent weeks, I came up with an idea. The HSE needs contact tracers and I have been in touch with the HSE and the airport authorities in this regard. I facilitated a meeting between the HSE and airport authorities and today a letter has been sent from the HR department of Shannon Airport to workers trying to ascertain whether there is an interest in this work among those on temporary lay off or working part-time. If they show interest perhaps we can get them some work with the HSE as a short-term measure. It is terrible to have to do this. They should not have to do it. They should not have to consider it but workers on temporary lay off tell me they would take anything if they could figure out how to pay the bills.

As we go forward we need to chart a way out of this and start developing a new aviation plan. The motion will certainly feed into it but the strategy will have to be more than half a page. There will have to be a new aviation policy that looks at the short, medium and long term. International aviation experts speak about it being 2023 or 2024 when we get back to appreciable levels of travel where there will be confidence among business and leisure travellers. There is also recognition that people may get out of the habit of travelling for leisure or business and with the emergence of technologies we will not, for quite some time, see the same level of activity. It puts the workers who are dependent on it in a very difficult situation.

What we do not need during the ramp up period of two, three or four years is the airlines picking off the two airports. Of course the centre of population is in Dublin and it will be easy for airlines to re-establish business there because of the traffic. If Shannon Airport is kept in an isolated fashion away from Dublin Airport it will get precious little. We have a real job to do in developing a policy so it clearly ensures that as growth happens it does so in a balanced way that protects the investment made by tourism operators, foreign direct investment companies that employ so many and the hotel and leisure sector, and so we do not allow the airlines to dictate the state of play. They will do so if Shannon Airport is pitted against Dublin Airport and Cork Airport. They will play one against the other and we will fall foul of it. There is real work to do to make sure this does not happen. We can work collectively. A cross-party group, including Senator Gavan and me, are working on this. We should start to develop the strategy from there and we can also do it in the House. We can try to get some sense of a common approach to resolving what is a real difficulty.