Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his comments. We acknowledge that aviation is a global industry. It has weathered a crisis and demonstrated great resilience. It is important to state that much of the recovery in the passenger numbers has been driven by our successful vaccination programme and those of our European neighbours. At this stage, approximately 90% of our incoming passengers completing the electronic passenger locator form are fully vaccinated. Ireland's reputation as a safe destination is also enhanced by our impressive vaccination figures and our position at the top of the Bloomberg Covid resilience ranking.

In relation to our national aviation policy, we started work on that but it was paused in 2020 as a result of Covid-19 so that we could deal with the crisis in aviation. I wish to inform Senators that work on a revised national aviation policy will begin again in the coming months. A key part of that policy will be the development of a comprehensive public consultation process, as well as close engagement with the aviation industry through the structures of the national civil aviation development forum. The programme for Government acknowledges the value of aviation in supporting economic development, international connectivity and tourism via our airports, while also acknowledging our commitment to support EU and international action to reduce aviation emissions. It is a priority for Government to continue to build on the recovery in the aviation sector. I do not want pre-empt or indeed, pre-announce, budgetary measures that may provide additional supports for the sector for 2022, but I can assure the House of the Government's continued support for the aviation sector and our airports as we recover from this unprecedented crisis in the sector.