Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I welcome Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Harrison and Ms Gubbins and thank them for being with us. Their predecessors have been here in the past and I think they might have been here with Ryanair previously or certainly some of their representatives were.

Their insight into the aviation sector will be helpful to the overall mix.

Before I begin my questions, I will carry on from Senator Craughwell's point. Will the DAA confirm that there was no requirement for the site which it is at an advanced stage of negotiations to purchase to remain a car park? Could it be the case that if it had not been secured by DAA that it might not have ended up as a long-term car park? It is a valuable site in north County Dublin. Will DAA clarify that?

I will move on to areas that are of interest to me. Unfortunately, I use Dublin Airport more than I would like. I would prefer to be able to do more from Shannon Airport but I will get into that later. There are two issues for users of the airport. It is poor infrastructurally. Terminal 2 in particular provides a poorer user experience at security than it should. Has DAA had any outside expert come to look at the system for the passage of people through security? For an airport that opened in 2010 it is a poor offering in comparison to what is available in older airports around the world. Even the simple matter of the basket coming back is an issue. It must be pushed back many times. It gets stuck and does not get back, whereas in terminal 1 there is an automated system. The witnesses use the airport regularly so will be familiar with it. In comparison to other airports - Mr. Jacobs compared it to other capitals - and I am not talking about the best, but the average, it is a poor user experience. Mr. Jacobs spoke about cleanliness and is aware of those issues. They need to be addressed in time.

Mr. Jacobs identified one of the upgrade projects, namely a further pier. The user experience of travelling into terminal 2 late at night is of landing at gates that are closer to terminal 1 and having to taxi all the way back to terminal 2. It is not great in the morning or evening, which is when most people who are regular users of the airport travel. Will the DAA speak about its plans to improve the user experience in the airport and what studies have been done of a better use of the space in security? Mr. Jacobs spoke about staffing, which is important, and about the new system which is similar to the ones introduced in Kerry and Shannon airports. We know the complexities of that. Will he speak about time and motion studies, if any has been done, and the user experience going through the airport as it is a major problem?

Many people suggest that with the second runway Dublin Airport terminals are close to capacity. A little more could be done with some new gates that would help the user experience but it is getting close to capacity.

DAA spoke about competition earlier. There were other views at the time about the separation of Shannon Airport from Cork and Dublin airports. I did not agree with it but it happened. Is there an argument for building a closer alliance between the three main airports in the State in Cork, Dublin and Shannon, under some kind of a broad umbrella similar to the Córas Iompair Éireann, CIE model with three entities somewhat in competition but not really? Dublin Airport does not have any competition in reality. Perhaps it has with airports in London or Portugal but there is no competition in the State.

The purpose of the committee inviting DAA to appear is to feed into its development of a future strategy for aviation. We will hit it with the little bits and pieces within its remit. Notwithstanding that the three airports are regulated into these separate entities and the regulator technically addresses the competitive environment, is there an overarching argument for us to all be working more closely together to better maximise what we get through in an easier way?

Without getting into major detail, there is very little cargo that could not go through Shannon Airport. Cargo in the belly hold of passenger aircraft could not but direct cargo flights could.

Is there any reason for Dublin Airport to be in the space of transit business where the passengers do not get on and off the aircraft that DAA still bids for and fights for? It would declutter a busy airport. That business could make a difference to Shannon Airport. Shannon Airport is losing out significantly because of the amount that Dublin and Cork airports have together. I would be interested to hear the witnesses thoughts on those issues.