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Wed, 05 Jun, 2024 - 01:00

After a dismal winter and spring, readers can be forgiven a little giddiness at the prospect of summer. It’s certainly understandable if the arrival of June drives interest in getting abroad for some fine weather.

However, those planning a flight to the sun are now facing an unpleasant development — a hike in the cost of those flights, according to the aviation industry.

This is despite industry forecasts of almost €1tn in revenue for 2024 on the back of record passenger numbers. Global airlines have raised their profit forecast for 2024 to €28bn on revenues of €919bn as a record number of travellers board flights.

Why, then, are those travellers facing price hikes?

Consider the comments of Irishman Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association, at that organisation’s annual meeting in Dubai this week.

The former head of Aer Lingus referred to supply chain issues which need to be resolved for the benefit of the industry, but also said more taxes are not the solution to achieving net zero — adding that the current “parade of fragmented green tax proposals” are prohibiting people from flying sustainably, and grounding all but the rich.

Mr Walsh appears to be tying different arguments together in this discussion. There is an implicit suggestion here that green tax proposals are contributing to an underlying unfairness, an inequity in which the rich enjoy privileges which are not available to others.

That seems an unprofitable argument on the basis that the rich have always enjoyed privileges which are not available to others.

His warning is notable, though, and flying at low-cost fares in an era of climate change is no longer sustainable, so it makes sense that zipping overseas will become the privilege of fewer people in future.

It is also fair to point out a difficulty with a causal link between green taxes being imposed to reach net zero on one hand, and wealthy individuals availing of private jets or first-class air travel — particularly for short-haul flights — on the other.

It is up to all of us to make our peace with the impact we have on the environment, and air travel, as a notoriously carbon-intensive activity, is a key element in doing so.

However, when it comes to making choices about one’s carbon footprint, there are surely more serious considerations than the profit margins of airlines.

Positive news about healthcare

At a time when hospitals feature negatively in the headlines on a regular basis, a positive story emerged this week regarding Cork University Hospital (CUH).

This newspaper reported during the week that the Government’s acute hospital in-patient bed capacity expansion plan aims to deliver around 3,000 new hospital beds by 2031, and CUH will receive more beds than any other hospital.

The hospital is to receive 412 new beds by 2031, most of them due for delivery in the two years before that.

Some 70 beds will have been delivered between 2021 and the end of this year, 80 more are planned for delivery between 2025 and 2028, and another 261 are due between 2029 and 2031.

It is hugely encouraging to see a commitment to provide more beds at a time when the number of patients on trolleys beggars belief.

In April, over 11,000 people were admitted to hospitals without beds, including 250 children. If these beds can be provided at hospitals around the country, then surely some of that pressure can be alleviated to everyone’s benefit.

It is also encouraging to see other measures being taken to help ease that pressure, as in the case of the Westfield Integrated Care Centre, recently opened in Ballincollig. The centre aims to provide patients with complex conditions or chronic disease with care closer to home and reduce admissions to hospital.

In that context, the centre is certainly making a difference — having delivered significant reductions in the number of people waiting over 12 months for appointments for diabetes-related issues and respiratory difficulties at CUH.

This is a terrific result in terms of improving the standard of care for those waiting for such appointments — reducing the waiting time for people in this situation should be a priority in and of itself, but doing so also reduces the numbers waiting for treatment in hospital.

Less overcrowding would be a significant benefit for those who need to attend hospital as well as those working in those hospitals.

The Westfield Centre is a great example of joined-up thinking which helps all involved — more of this in our health services would be very welcome.

State exams begin

In thousands of homes across Ireland this morning, there are students waking up to confront the Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations. It can be a fraught time for them and for their families.

The emphasis put on examination results means there is significant pressure on Leaving Cert students in particular.

In yesterday’s newspaper, Colman Noctor offered sound advice to those who may feel stressed by the prospect of those exams: Get a good night’s sleep rather than cramming into the small hours the night before an exam; Don’t panic in the test centre when confronted by the paper; Taking some deep breaths is beneficial in the exam.

For the parents and guardians of those teenage test candidates, Dr Noctor offered a timely acknowledgement of the challenges they face.

Striking a balance between encouraging children to do their best without stressing them unduly about those exams can be a test in and of itself.

Best of luck to all facing exams this week. Remember, this too shall pass.

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