James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Even from the perspective of the availability of teas and coffees, if one is further down the building where there is some catering and duty-free; I find that there is very little life at that pier. This is something that would make a great difference with a requirement of minimal investment. I find that the area around the check-in is very cluttered, as you enter the building. It would be great to fix that.

Many concerns were also raised with me on the sanitary aspect. Mr. Jacobs stated there that the DAA has changed its toilet provider, which is great to hear.

When one goes over then into the terminal side, in the morning when going through security at peak hours and one is effectively then into the departure area of the airport; that corridor, which is there with the Starbucks restaurant, is not good. It is very uncomfortable and in one experience I had before Christmas, it was sad to see that many older customers were struggling after they had come through security, as you then literally enter into a blaze of people on that corridor leading down. It would make a world of difference when going over that corridor if additional space was created for retail and catering. For a minimal investment, one would get a great deal more of a return for the customer. That is something I would appeal to the DAA to address. I have spoken to Mr. Harrison about this before and under new leadership, this is something to be looked at.

On the regulatory regime which was put in place in 2001, this has effectively been the system which has controlled the prices at Dublin Airport. Arguably, the airlines would say that this could potentially have benefited the airport more than it did the State. Can I have the DAA’s insight on what has been published in the review? What are DAA's views on the outcome of this review in terms of delivering that infrastructure? It is potentially going to be the end of this decade before we are going to see any hard concrete being poured or action for new infrastructure at the airport for additional capacity. What does the outcome of that review mean?

Can the DAA also reflect on the growth in numbers? Dublin Airport has not quite reached its 2019 passenger level yet. At that time, the numbers were slightly over the recommended operating capacity for the airport. What is the DAA’s interim plan to deal with that additional capacity that may come down the line? Hopefully, we will have returned to the 2019 levels by next year but beyond 2024, what does the DAA envisage the airport looking like? Potentially there could be 7 million or 8 million more passengers by the end of the decade in an airport that has been built for an operating capacity of approximately 30 million passengers. Can Mr. Jacobs give me an insight on that point because it is quite serious? We do not want to revisit what happened last year, as I have strong concerns in that regard.