Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Swedish ambassador on behalf of the Sinn Féin group.

Two years ago, the Seanad passed a Sinn Féin motion relating to Shannon Airport and the need to rebalance air transport in this country. At the end of 2020, the all-party Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications Networks clearly called on the Government to bring about "the re-establishment of a State Airports Authority, encompassing Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports, to lead the recovery in a balanced way that will benefit [the entire country]". The difficulty with all the chaos we saw at the weekend is that the Government clearly has a responsibility for it. Some 18 months after that all-party recommendation and almost two years after the Sinn Féin motion, there has been absolutely no action from either the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, or the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I can categorically state that neither Minister is interested in a regional rebalance and they are not listening.

The evidence for that comes from a Commencement matter tabled this morning. In fairness, my Limerick colleague, Senator Maria Byrne, tabled a Commencement matter in respect of regional balance and the development of air traffic routes. The scripted answer she received does not have one word in respect of the need to rebalance. Having challenged the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, in this Chamber, I know they both have a policy of ignoring the question.

This issue is of importance to the Deputy Leader in the context of Ireland West Airport, Knock, and to colleagues from Cork in the context of Cork Airport. There is a fundamental problem, which is that 90% of aeroplanes that leave this country do so from Dublin Airport. That is why a rapid recovery in airport traffic leads to chaos such as ensued at the weekend. It could have been avoided if these Ministers had taken the time to listen to any member of the transport committee in the past 18 months but, of course, they did not do so. They ignored the questions and now we see the chaos that has ensued. I am asking for a debate on the matter because I think Members on the Government side need to recognise that their Ministers are not listening and are not interested. The evidence for that is clear from the Commencement matter dealt with earlier.

In the few seconds I have left, I raise the fact that last week the Passport Office turned down the passport application of a man with throat cancer.It turned down the application after a week of lobbying, because it was not satisfied that the letter we produced as evidence that the poor man was extremely sick was not recent enough. Having gone back and forth for five days, I cannot begin to tell the Deputy Leader how exasperated I am. There is something fundamentally wrong in the Passport Office. This Government continues to frustrate. Where is the accountability for this? We all know it has been failing. People are hurting. They are not getting their passports and they are not able to travel. I found the experience completely deflating last week because there is a human being at the back of that, as there is for all of us. We all know it is not good enough. I ask for a debate on the matter.