Ms Oonagh Buckley:

Returning first to what Senator Buttimer said, it is quite right for him to say that people are writing to him to tell him they were never checked in Dublin Airport. There was a collective misunderstanding about this matter, however. We hear it as well and we are asked many parliamentary questions and receive many press queries about it. The misunderstanding is that every piece of paper is going to be checked on arrival in Dublin Airport. That is not the case. As we have explained, the checks are to take place as people are leaving the departing airport. That is appropriate and in accordance with EU advice regarding where those checks have to happen.

To answer the question from the Chair, as I said, we are back to about two thirds of incoming passengers relative to pre-pandemic levels and the airport is busy again. The Chair mentioned delays in August. Without trying to throw anybody else into the mix, those were not immigration delays. Those were people being delayed on departure because of delays in the security checks on the way out.