Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for coming to the House. This matter concerns the provision of a direct flight service between Tel Aviv and Dublin. Ireland's trade relations with Israel have increased at a notable pace within a considerably short period of time. In 2005, Ireland's service exports to Israel amounted to €64 million, while service imports amounted to €80 million but within ten years they have increased twofold. In 2015, Ireland's service exports amounted to €1.673 billion, while service imports amounted to €171 million.

In recent years, the number of direct flights between and Ireland and international hubs of tourism and trade, such as Dubai, the USA and Belgium has been increasing. Despite this there is no direct permanent flight service between Ireland and Israel. Organisations in both countries have been campaigning for a direct and permanent flight service on the grounds that it would improve the level of production, collaboration and creativity between the two countries. A number of multinational companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Apple all have offices in both states and many Israeli based companies will benefit hugely from flying their staff directly through Ireland's US pre-clearance airports. Furthermore, in addition to the considerable tourism element, both countries are home to Irish and Israeli expatriates. A permanent direct flight service would facilitate both communities remaining connected. In addition to these considerations, a direct flight service between Ireland and Israel would improve Ireland's presentation as a global, connected and modernising state for British-based multinationals to relocate to following the result of Brexit. Therefore, as the motion stated, I ask the Minister to work in conjunction with Ireland's commercial airlines in order to play an active role in seeking a permanent, direct flight between Dublin and Tel Aviv. Such a development would be particularly beneficial to Ireland, its economy and global reach.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Senator Noone for raising this very important matter. It is a creative, left-field suggestion, which is the kind response that we need to the Brexit issue because it responds in a way which at least acknowledges markets overseas, the need to service and recognise them immediately, and the need to recognise opportunities.

I am aware that the Ireland Israel Business Network has been campaigning for direct flights between Tel Aviv and Ireland for a number of years. The network is an independent, non-political organisation, that promotes business contacts between Irish and Israeli companies. The two countries have important high-tech sectors. Naturally, a year-round direct flight service would help to facilitate trade and tourism between Ireland and Israel, which is something that we will encourage.New services, of which there are too many to mention, are being launched regularly. Traffic and the number of routes have been growing at all of our international airports in the recent past. Air services between Ireland and Israel are governed by the EU-Israel air services agreement which was signed in 2012. The agreement provides a framework to open up and integrate the respective markets, strengthen co-operation and offer new opportunities for industry, including airlines and consumers. It is essentially an open skies agreement that allows any European Union or Israeli airline to fly between Ireland and Israel.

Ireland fully supports the European Union's external aviation policy which seeks to negotiate air services agreements with non-EU countries such as Israel. While a range of direct flights operate between the two countries, to date no airline has chosen to operate a year round service. For a number of years Arkia Airlines, an Israeli airline, has operated a twice weekly scheduled service between Tel Aviv and Dublin and is expected to continue this service in 2017. Israeli and Irish airlines have also operated tourist charter flights between the two countries. The State agencies and my Department would certainly be very supportive of any airline interested in launching a year round service.

The Senator is right to point to the need for Ireland to be open to possible opportunities arising from Brexit. Yesterday I hosted an all-island sectoral dialogue in Dundalk concentrating on transport and tourism matters. As I stated at the event, transport and tourism are central to the economic and social fabric of the island of Ireland and my aim is to minimise any negative impact and seek positive opportunities that may arise in the coming years from the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. My objective in holding the all-island dialogue was to get viewpoints from stakeholders on the island of Ireland on how the United Kingdom's decision would affect them and what could be done by industry and the Government to mitigate these adverse effects.

To sum up, the EU-Israel air services agreement means that any EU or Israeli airline is free to launch direct services should it take the commercial decision to do so. I would certainly welcome such a development. My Department and the State agencies will continue their efforts to promote Ireland’s air connectivity with the rest of the world. I again thank the Senator for raising the matter. My Department fully supports increased connectivity and competition in the market for air services in and out of Ireland. We will work to facilitate any proposed direct service between Ireland and Israel.

Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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I am very pleased with the Minister's response. There would be nothing to be gained from finding fault with it. I wanted to ensure the issue was on the radar.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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It is nice to see someone happy with a response.

Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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It was a good reply.