Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for her presentation. I welcome the fact she wrote to the Department of Health today on conducting a pilot on antigen testing. I would like if that had been done sooner. I hope the Department of Transport will be able to take on that role in conjunction with airports and airlines and notify the Department of Health it is doing it. I do not think we can leave it all to the Department of Health, but that is another issue.

The reality is that the aviation sector is decimated across the world. That is not the making of the Government or of any Department, as others have said, but how we respond to it must be the responsibility of the wider Department of Transport. We have to give some certainty to all the players, to the airports, airlines, aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul companies, support companies and the leasing companies, which are looking around and wondering where we are going. That is why I would like decisions made much sooner. We have a fair idea where the virus, the various variants and our vaccine roll-out are at. We are working towards 19 July for an opening up across Europe.I believe that we should be moving on 1 July. I do not see why we need to wait the protracted period of time. From talking with people within the airline sector I am aware that this 19 days will have a significant impact on activity and on the levels of financial income for airlines.

On the issue of antigen testing, there is a lot of talk to suggest that if we had antigen tests it would sort the problem. It would not, but it would certainly have a significant benefit. The PCR test was really important when the virus was out of control. With the vaccines rolled out, however, and now rolling out to the 30s age group, could those under the age of 30, the teens and those in their 20s who will not be vaccinated for the rest of the summer, at least be tested with an antigen test rather than forcing them through a PCR test, which is an expensive test? Consider those parents who have worked hard throughout this year and who have coped with everything. If they want to take their two or three kids away it is probably €200 per child for tests to leave the country and to come back. We need to look at that. If there is a difference between the Tánaiste and Dr. Tony Holohan on whether or not people should travel based on whether or not they are vaccinated, could we get some clarity around whether or not an antigen test would be enough? I believe that people would accept that, and it would certainly be helpful for the industry. We must watch that.

On the wider sector, antigen testing will not bring aviation activity back to 2019 levels anytime soon, with 2023 to 2024 having been identified as the period before we are back to pre-pandemic levels of activity, however that might play out. Some would suggest that it could be 2024 to 2025. The reality is that there will be significant job losses during that period, as the Minister of State knows well. We need to provide supports to all the airports, but particularly to Shannon Airport in the west, to try to ensure that everything is not consolidated into Dublin. There is no doubt that a lot fewer people will be travelling for the next couple of years but we do not want airlines putting all flights through Dublin just in order to survive. As airlines consolidate to try to protect cash or to try to minimise their borrowings, of course they will try to consolidate activity. This will be through the biggest airport, which will be Dublin Airport. If we allow that to happen in an unbridled way it will decimate further economic recovery on the western seaboard. For sure the Government has, in my view, an absolute requirement to provide funding to the likes of Shannon Airport with route support schemes and so on. It is not good enough to say that we will look at that in the future, that there is a bundle of money and that we will announce stuff. They are grappling with airlines now. They are trying to give some certainty to the rest of the summer and the autumn period. Other airports around the world know what they can offer and they are jumping ahead. They are attracting airlines. We are losing that in the west. We need to see action around that to ensure we retain key connectivity. I will give Shannon Airport as an example. The key connectivity and the key routes for Shannon Airport for business and onward connectivity to the wider world are into London Heathrow, New York and Boston. Ryanair provides other services that are very important and they support the hospitality and tourism sector inbound and outbound for people who want to travel. We need to work with local airports. We need to establish what are the key routes that drive most levels of activity, and we need to provide the appropriate level of funding. This is not for further down the road. This needs to be done really quickly.

Senator Garvey spoke of effects on the wider sector. We have seen it with Stobart Air and with the removal of the crew base at Shannon, which is a horrendous blow to the morale, to the confidence and to the families of those who were affected. It is a huge blow to those communities. Now we see that Lufthansa Technik, which is a very important maintenance company there, is also reviewing its operations. That is really striking a blow to the confidence in the overall sector. The State needs to make it clear. We have a clear pathway now on where the virus is going. Of course one can never be overly confident, but the end is in sight and there is a pathway out of this. Vaccination is it. Alongside that we need very strong State support standing behind the industry, knowing that we will have to continue to borrow as a State to continue to support the sector, so that we can keep the foundations in place upon which to build that recovery. I thank the Minister of State for listening to us.