Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Philips and his team for coming here today. I read his statement. It is a frustrating and a sad irony that an entity which is all about moving people has been a in state of paralysis quite a number of times. I was one of the members who was here at the end of March or early April when we were given reassurances and provided with timeframes within which the DAA would have this matter rectified. That has not come to pass. Just last week we received reassuring emails that everything would be fine. There is a saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Members of the public interface with the airport and will be travelling through it today. I travelled beside one of those passengers this morning on the train to Dublin. That person had left hours upon hours in advance of her flight because she was petrified she would miss it. Those travelling are people going on holidays or going back to UK for family funerals. The DAA's public relations people were on the airwaves this week stating that it will compensate people. When asked about the level of compensation, however, their responses were totally vague. I do not think anything appropriately compensates people for this. I would like Mr. Philips to address that issue.

I do not know if the witnesses can see what I am holding up, but it is an image of the departure gate in Shannon. It has a lovely graphic arch asking people to please queue here. There is no queue, however. In Shannon, can drop one's bag off and seven minutes later be having a cup of coffee and waiting to board one's flight. The solution to Mr. Philip's problem lies in airports like Shannon and the other State airports. He said it is up to the airlines to choose but has he, as the supreme chief in Dublin Airport, said to them that we may not be able to get their passengers on a flight this weekend and that he would advise them to try Shannon, Cork or Knock airports. Has he communicated that to them?