Mr. Brendan O'Hanlon:

I thank the Deputy. It is important we get across that the last thing the DAA wants is to offer our colleagues contracts that would not allow people to have a decent standard of living and some certainty with regard to when and how they work. I can understand how people see those types of contracts that typically exist in the retail sector but they do not operate the same way in the aviation sector. The vast majority of our employees are permanent, full-time employees, particularly in this area where 75% of the airport search unit, ASU, officers work what are called static rosters, which mean there is no fluctuation in the number of hours they work or when they work them. They have absolute certainty in that regard.

In the model we have brought in as a result of Covid-19, 25% of people are on a flexible pool roster and will work between 20 and 40 hours per week. They get 30 days notice of a 30-day roster. It is 60 days before there is any change to people's rosters. I can tell the committee that the DAA has no intention to go down the road of bringing in casual contracts of employment. It is not in our interests because retention would be an issue. We have issues around Garda clearance and training. It is not at all in our interests to have turnover of employees. We want to make sure we offer a package that attracts people to work in the DAA and I believe we do. The 4,000 applications that came in for these roles in the ASU are demonstrable proof of that.

We are committed. I, as the head of employee relations, work with the heads of HR and each of the business units. We look at the contracts and engage with our trade union partners. All the contracts we have are negotiated and agreed with all the unions that exist in DAA. I can assure the committee that it is not our desire to have contracts that encourage people to leave. That is not in our interests and it is not how we want to treat our employees.