Press release
The Interim Report of the Aviation Recovery Taskforce
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Aviation Recovery Taskforce has submitted an Interim Report to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross. The Taskforce, which draws on industry leaders and expertise, was formed by the Minister earlier this month and it was asked to make a Report by 10 July.
As explained in its Interim Report, the Taskforce will make a Final Report before or on that deadline, but it chose to submit an Interim Report because it had identified a small number of measures and decisions which it considered urgent and needing the immediate attention of the Minister and the Government.
In the Interim Report, the Taskforce makes four recommendations.
These are:
i. Begin to lift international travel restrictions by 1 July;
ii. Lift the quarantine requirement on incoming airline passengers by 1 July;
iii. To support the first two measures, finalise and implement in full a national Code of Practice for Safe Air Travel which applies the aviation health and safety protocols developed by the European Centre for Disease Control and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA); and
iv. In order to mitigate large scale redundancies and job losses confirm continuation of existing financial support measures, including in particular the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme to support employment where possible.
On receiving the Interim Report, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross said:
“I welcome the publication of the Interim Report of the Aviation Recovery Taskforce and commend the members for the sense of urgency they have brought to the challenge of identifying proposals to support the recovery of a critical sector of our economy. I note there will be a Final Report in the coming weeks, and I look forward to receiving that, which I understand will contain further proposals focused on what needs to be done over the next number of years.
Regarding the Interim Report, it very succinctly captures the huge importance of the sector to the Irish economy, and it very clearly sets out the case for taking steps to be taken to begin opening up to international travel sooner rather than later. There are of course important public health issues to be considered, which the Report acknowledges, and I will give the matters my priority attention and ensure that they are considered as a matter of urgency by the Government.”
ENDS
Additional Information:
The interim report is available to view at the following link: