Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Minister received a preliminary report but the detailed report from the European Union inspectors will not be available for some time. They provided a preliminary oral briefing to the Department of Transport on the outcome of the inspection last Friday but the written report will take a number of weeks. However, the oral report probably deals with most of the important issues.

The Minister for Transport received a report from his officials yesterday and that report incorporates the views of the Dublin Airport Authority on the inspection. It is not the policy to publicise the outcome of inspections and audits and to state exactly what is in the report but there were obviously serious deficiencies in the system. There were a number of breaches, although explosives or detonators were not involved, as some reports suggested. However, knives and other instruments got through, some in people's shoes and some in garments, which is a serious issue.

The Minister for Transport is determined that deficiencies identified will be remedied. His Department has been working with the authority since last week to ensure a consistent application of the required security standards and practices to keep a balance between good security and no excessive delays. The board's sub-committee on security has held a special meeting. It has announced its intention to appoint an internationally recognised consultant to look at the security of the airport to see how best to achieve that balance. Following what happened last week, the staff are taking a tough line on everything. The security committee will meet tomorrow to discuss developments and review arrangements at the airport. The Department of Transport and the Garda will attend that meeting. An early meeting of the National Civil Aviation Security Committee, chaired by the Department of Transport, is also planned. The advisory committee includes representatives of the Garda, the airlines, airports, Departments and a number of other bodies.

The recent delays have resulted from the increased security. The DAA is monitoring passenger movements and controls to minimise this inconvenience. It is liaising with the airlines as more staff on the stands eases delays. Last Sunday, many of the stands were not opened. Passengers have been asked to minimise hand baggage and to turn up earlier. All the existing units are to be manned to move numbers through. The DAA has indicated that it is reviewing the level of resources available to manage the situation. Some 60 additional screeners are being trained, 20 of whom are ready to work. It will take approximately four weeks to get all units operational, but all current units are operational, which was not the case last week.

The Government is committed to ensuring the highest standards of aviation security at our airports. The Department of Transport will follow up on the lessons learned from the inspection last week. It will try to ensure that the maximum number of units are open so that people can be moved through quickly.

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