HSE is examining the hiring of Shannon Airport staff who have been laid off as Kovid contact tracers.

Airport management met with HSE to explore the possibility of hiring staff engaged in temporary or part-time jobs in contact tracing.

It’s coming Ryanair threatened to close the Cork and Shannon bases If the government does not implement the EU traffic light system to allow the return of international air travel from October 26 until the winter.

The airline has called on the airline government to fully approve the new EU travel list policy, which allows unrestricted air travel to and from parts of Europe classified by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC), from October 13. Green or amber.

The government has already said it fully supports the EU Commission’s proposal for a traffic light system for international travel.

Senator Timmy Dooley said the unexpected fall from Kovid-19 was devastating to the airport and the wider area.

He said staff at Shannon Airport now need a short-term solution to fix a significant drop in the Pandemic.

“Many of them are either laid off or re-employed part-time. They find it difficult to meet their financial commitments despite having a temporary wage subsidy scheme and are struggling to survive.

“Contact tracing work can be a little comforting for some, but we need to think imaginatively about how we can help more.”

Dooley, who raised the issue in Cyan, said airport workers have a standard of living commensurate with their expected income and are now under pressure to pay off mortgages, tuition fees, car loans and other common expenses.

“I’m not saying they work in a protected area, but workers have never experienced anything like this before.

We must acknowledge the fact that aviation operations are not going to resume soon and look at how we can help these workers immediately.

Dooley added that before the Pandemic Shannon Airport was already “backfoot” there was a big flight through Dublin.

We must ensure that airlines do not easily touch each other during the ramp-up period and do not operate all services from Dublin’s main airport, as such a move would destroy local development and not give us a chance in the west and center. West or South to recover in this regard. “