Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. This is a very rough time for her to be landed with the aviation brief, if she will excuse the pun. I do not envy her at this time. No-one saw what was coming down the tracks or the runway as the case may be. We are where we are and I believe that both the Minister and Minister of State have done their utmost to deal with this unforeseen situation.

I could not call myself a Clare woman without mentioning Shannon Airport and how important it is to the whole region. It is the nucleus of all that is in the entire region spanning three counties. I could not miss this opportunity to raise the issue today with the Minister of State. It is vital that we support the workers and all of the people who have been affected. Regional rebalance is an issue that existed pre-Covid and we want it sorted when things re-open after Covid. We need to get more flights into Shannon Airport. We need transatlantic and European routes and Shannon Airport is as deserving an airport as Dublin for such flights. As Shannon Airport has a longer runway, transatlantic flights can land with lower carbon emissions, which is an issue the Government is also examining due to the climate emergency. If we are trying to do our best in every sector then emissions will have to be taken into account as well. I hope that the Minister of State, as a fellow west coast woman, will consider the importance of having regional rebalance as we look at reopening the airports once we get through this very tough time. I wish her the best of luck with the challenges that lie ahead in the coming months.