Ryanair's chief executive has insisted foreign travel will be back on the agenda for Irish people by the summer, blasting "scare stories" from the Government and public health chiefs over Covid-19.
Michael O'Leary this morning argued that Ireland must "get its finger out" when it comes to the vaccine rollout, delivering a stinging attack on Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan.
"If 50% of our population is vaccinated by the end of June – which we now expect – we see a strong recovery of travel, summer holidays, during the school holidays in July, August and September," he told RTE's Morning Ireland.
He said the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and specifically Dr Tony Holohan, "should be holding a daily press conference announcing the number of people who’ve been vaccinated – not issuing scare stories about how numbers of people in hospitals."
Ryanair, he said, will not ask people to prove they've been vaccinated before allowing them to fly, in comments that also saw him attack broadcaster RTE for its coronavirus coverage.
"We should be out of these lockdowns by the end of June, and RTE will have to move on and talk about something else.
"We need some optimism in Ireland, instead of the daily doses of pessimism being delivered by NPHET and RTE."
Despite a record month when it comes to Covid-19 cases and deaths, Mr O'Leary said the "vast majority" of those who are sick and dying from the virus are in the over-65 bracket.
"Part of this is more of the NPHET miscommunication. They have daily press conferences trying to terrify the population.
"The reality is that the UK will have vaccinated over 50% of their population – everyone over the age of 50 – by the end of March. Ireland needs to catch up, hopefully by the end of June."
