Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we have a united message from the Government, which is why I was surprised to hear the Tánaiste saying that perhaps young people can go abroad but with no definition of what young people are, when we had just been telling everybody that unless people can rationalise it they probably should not travel. I was surprised by this because we have to have a united message and have it figured out. People want to know and most people want to do what they are told and follow the best advice. We need the advice to be very clear and united. It is interesting and must have also left the Minister of State confused with the different messages from within her own party.

All this aside, it has been a real struggle for everybody in the aviation sector. All of the staff have been worried about their jobs. We have all had so many meetings. Elected representatives from Clare had several meetings with the aviation industry because of Shannon Airport and its importance to the region. As a west coast woman, I hope the Minister of State deeply understands the importance of Shannon Airport.

Aviation has shut and we are speaking about building back better. Part of building back better should be the introduction of regional balance in the aviation sector. For too long we have seen the vast majority of flights going in and out of Dublin. We all know now that 95% of these head off somewhere else, whereas those on flights coming into Shannon and Cork stay and spend. These are the economics that make sense to rural and regional areas. I look forward to working with the Minister of State on Shannon Airport in particular because it is in my native county.

We are an island and we need flights. Some people might say we should never fly again but this is not realistic. We will need flights and we will need them for a long time to come. I saw a good article in a Clare newspaper about a Clare man who has electric planes. They are only four-seaters but it is a start. We will need flights, we will need aviation and we will need it to be done well. When we put it back in place we really have to do it with regional balance. This is one of my main points.

The introduction of the EU digital Covid certificate will be very important and positive. I look forward to people being able to relax and know it is okay to travel again. I feel the frustration of young people so I can understand why the Tánaiste spoke as he did. I would love to have said the same thing but it was not what was being recommended by NPHET. Many young people are wondering what they can and cannot do. Everybody needs more clarity. The testing centres are going really well and many people are getting vaccinated, which is good. Those in their 30s will soon be vaccinated and I welcome this.

Before I wish the Minister of State good luck with her challenge I want to raise another issue. On the front page of The Clare Echothis week was a story on the threat to more than 400 jobs at Lufthansa Technik in Shannon. I do not know how many more job losses the region can take. Not only is this threat hovering over the workers but they were not fully informed. Some of them only heard about it in the press. This is wrong. No matter what is happening, people should not find out their jobs are under threat on the front page of a newspaper. I am sure the Minister of State deals with the airline companies and businesses all of the time.Lufthansa Technik must treat its workers better than that. Staff should not have found out about it on the news. For me, that would be horrendous. The company has done much great work on maintenance and repair; it is a maintenance, repair and overhaul operation and as such is very important. I heard about this before it was in the paper, luckily. It is always nice to know before the journalists, when we are trying to run the country. I was on to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, straight away. I know he has been talking to the Tánaiste, in his capacity as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and also directly with Lufthansa. We must try to prevent the job losses. In the worst-case scenario, what is the plan B? We must move and be ahead of the game in that regard. The more we engage with industry, the more it will keep us informed. I do not know what the best tactic is but we must do all we can to save every single job we can. Aviation is under serious threat but it will come back, it will be back again. Aeroplanes will need to be maintained. Even if they are only sitting on the ground going nowhere, they must still be constantly maintained and minded. To that end, I hope there are plans to engage with Lufthansa Technik to see what exactly the story is. I hope the company is going to inform its staff properly and treat them with the respect they deserve.