Donegal PSO flights
Deputy Doherty warned the new Donegal-Dublin PSO contract would cut afternoon flights and leave impractical early-morning and late-evening services. The Tánaiste said he understood the distress and the route’s importance for patients needing specialist care.
The new contract about to be signed by the Government for public service obligation, PSO, flights from Donegal to Dublin will mean a loss of afternoon flights. This is a public service obligation; it is supposed to serve the public but it is not. We know the people of Donegal are rightly outraged at the new proposed contract. Flights from Donegal to Dublin in at 8.30 p.m. and coming back from Dublin at 6.30 a.m is ludicrous. Nobody is demanding that. It will not work and there will be ghost flights. This is a €17 million contract. The midday service has worked for decades. It is why nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition in 48 hours. This is being led by a charity that provides support for over 500 people who depend on this flight to get their treatment in Dublin because we live a nine-hour return journey away by road. I have spoken to many of the patients myself. If it was not for this flight, they would not be able to avail of their cancer treatment.
They cannot even book flights after the 26th of this month because there is no contract in place. This route is not a luxury; it is a lifeline. This is a Government contract. It is a public service obligation. It has to serve the public and not the airline. I am asking the Tánaiste to commit that the Government will not enter into this contract until the midday service is secure.
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Doherty for raising this issue. I am acutely aware of the deep concern felt by people who live in Donegal and particularly, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, patients and their families who depend on this air service to access specialist medical care, including cancer treatment. He has given us a sense of the depth of feeling with so many people having signed a petition in such a short time. I am clear that the route is not about convenience. It is about trying to manage illness with dignity and reducing the physical and emotional strain of the long journeys. I have briefly engaged with the Minister for Transport on this issue. I know it is currently operated on a PSO contract funded by the Exchequer which provides two daily return services. The Minister is continuing to monitor the operation and performance of the service in line with the terms of the existing PSO contract. However, on foot of the Deputy mentioning this I will ask the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, to come back to him directly.