Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I take on board what she said in her opening statement and what has been said by many contributors this evening. This is a tremendously important issue and the Government is doing everything it can, notwithstanding some of the accusations that have been made. It is really important that the digital green certificate is fast-tracked. There are certain processes that we may have to put in place but the industry here is suffering enormously. As other colleagues have said, we have met pilots, travel agents and others involved in the aviation industry who are suffering enormously. It is very frustrating for them and I understand their frustration, particularly those who work on the planes. They visit other jurisdictions and do not see the same restrictions that they face when they come to Dublin. It is very difficult to explain to them why that is the case.

The Government has been very successful in reducing the number of cases here and rolling out the vaccination programme but because we have been successful in that regard, there is a reasonable expectation that this will give rise to a greater reopening of aviation and further opportunities for people to travel, not just for business and essential reasons but also for leisure. The Tánaiste spoke at the weekend about the fact that there will be an opportunity for people to travel for leisure, even where they have not been fully vaccinated. That is important because other countries in the European Union do not have the same restrictions as we have in terms of allowing travel, particularly on the Continent where there are no borders between countries. While taking on board what the Minister of State has said, we need to be moving towards a situation where international travel and travel by air are re-normalised. Until we do that, we will remain isolated and the aviation sector will continue to suffer.