Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There has been a lot of talk about people's poor experiences of going through airports this year. Dublin Airport was a big example and made international headlines. People had a very poor experience there as a result of a number of high-profile issues. One of the main issues behind this, and one which continues, is the inability to hire staff at many different grades in many different jobs across the airport. I refer to, for example, baggage handlers and security personnel, which is a big one. We have also been hearing that airlines are having difficulty hiring cabin crew. I represent an constituency in which there is an airport and I know that there was traditionally never any trouble in hiring for any job in the airport at any time, even for seasonal work. Has the model of funding and how airports are operating gone too far towards low wages? Do we need a reset of our aviation strategy to ensure we have enough staff and that people are paid well enough to take up jobs and ultimately provide a good experience for people travelling through airports?