Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will not need ten minutes.

I welcome the delegation from Aer Lingus and thank them for the written explanation they forwarded to us. Obviously when an event of this magnitude happens, questions are asked as to why and how it happened, whether it could have been avoided and what needs to be done to avoid a recurrence. What stands out about this incident is that Aer Lingus, as with all other airlines, is so reliant on technology. It needs IT for booking, boarding cards and baggage. Everything relies on technology. When I read the company's explanation, the first question that sprang to mind was why an Irish-based company is reliant on a UK company for the provision of Internet and cloud technology. Do we not have the capability here in Ireland in this area? It seems to me that the Aer Lingus supplier was doubly at fault. One can excuse a system going down but for the backup system to fail at the same time is just not acceptable. One would expect that a company the size of Aer Lingus with such a reliance on technology would be insisting on a multilayered backup system to ensure this does not happen.

As it happens, I came through Dublin Airport on the afternoon of 10 September. The first thing that struck me was that the terminal was absolutely jam packed but when I went outside, I was absolutely gobsmacked to see the mass of people everywhere. They were all across the concourse and there was a queue that stretched almost as far as the Radisson Blu Hotel.

The trail of people reaching all over the perimeter of the concourse was an incredible sight. People called me and asked me what was happening. I did not know what had happened but it was obvious to me that nobody seemed to know what happened and there were stewards but they did not have any information. People had no clue what was going on. They had no idea what had gone wrong, when issues would be fixed or whether people were going to get through the airport on that day. At that stage, because of the lack of communication, people were angry and frustrated. Some people were hungry because they had been at the airport since early morning and could not get into the terminal.

In general, from what I gathered having listened to people, communications at first were at zero, then there was limited engagement and eventually Aer Lingus customers got the disturbing news through national media that all flights had been cancelled. It would nothing short of a PR disaster for Aer Lingus and costly in terms of the reputational damage that has been at home and abroad. My concern today is for the people who have been affected. The disruption of people's travel plans had enormous consequences with deadlines being missed, reunions and family occasions being spoiled, baggage going missing, and when people tried to get hotel accommodation, the city was very busy and, therefore, it was nearly impossible to get accommodation. Finally, when people went to rebook it took many days and even weeks for rebookings to be organised. The response by Aer Lingus to bookings was sluggish to say the least.

Overall, for the people involved that day, they had a nightmarish experience and it was a shambles from the perspective of Aer Lingus. How many people were affected? How many people were impacted? Why did it take so long to react to the problem? What is the estimated cost of compensatory payments? Has compensation been concluded or are there still outstanding issues to be dealt with from the perspective of the consumer?