Written answers

Tuesday, 28 September 2021

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Air Services

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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254. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a schedule of air routes and airlines he has engaged with in respect of the restoration of pre-pandemic air routes: if he plans to financially incentivise airlines to reinstate routes; and the amount in total he has to expend on this project. [46296/21]

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Minister Ryan and I have engaged extensively with aviation stakeholders, including through the Aviation Recovery Taskforce and the National Civil Aviation Development Forum.

To mitigate the negative economic impact of COVID-19 the Government has put in place a range of supports for all businesses, including those in the aviation sector. These include the wage subsidy scheme, the waving of commercial rates, the deferral of tax liabilities, the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme, the Credit Guarantee Scheme, and the Working Capital Scheme. At end June it was estimated that ore than €300 million has been made available to the aviation sector through a number of these general cross-economy schemes. Liquidity support through commercial lending in the order of €190m has been made available to Aer Lingus and the daa through the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

In addition, a further €80 million is being provided to support the airports, as announced last year, through the Regional Airports Programme and the additional flexibility that is a allowed under EU State aid rules to redress damage arising from exceptional events such as the global pandemic. This will enable the airports to offer route incentives to restore connectivity.

The Economic Recovery Plan launched, in June this year, with the goal of achieving rapid job creation and economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic, set out new measures, and provided for the continuation of business supports. This plan also recognised the potential need for additional supports for the aviation sector. Officials in my Department are currently considering options for further targeted supports for aviation, with a view to accelerating the restoration of connectivity.

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