Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It seems such a long time ago. I used to be a bartender on a cruise ship, and we used to stop at different ports. It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I would recommend anyone go there.

I want to raise the fact that the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, held an extraordinary general meeting at 10 a.m. followed by a rally and a protest. They will deliver a letter of protest to the Taoiseach today. Its members are outside the gates of Leinster House at the moment. It is about rapid antigen testing and what it could do for airlines. The sector is in total crisis as everyone understands. The closure of the Shannon base was very disappointing, as was the temporary closure of the Cork base.Pre-Covid, Aer Lingus was going to expand. Obviously the industry needs support but what we need from IAG, which actually controls an awful lot of the decisions made by Aer Lingus, relates to the 23 slots at Heathrow held by Ireland. I call on the Minister to extend the legal right to veto any disposal of Aer Lingus slots at Heathrow for a further 20 years. It is hugely important. We have such valuable slots. If one looks at the sale of those slots in 2016, one can see that Oman Air bought one early slot from Kenya Airlines for $75 million. That is one slot. We have 23. This is hugely valuable and we must make sure they are secured if we are going to support the industry.