Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Arrangements for disembarking passengers at Dublin Airport currently do not allow for the separation of passengers from domestic flights within the State and those arriving on flights originating outside the State. Consequently, all arriving passengers must pass through immigration controls to ensure that those persons who, by law, require the permission of an immigration officer to enter the State are subject to the proper controls.

The allocation of immigration personnel at Dublin Airport is designed to have the maximum number of staff on duty during peak periods. Every effort is made by immigration officers to exercise their function as speedily as possible but there may be occasions when delays will occur. A high number of flights within a contracted arrivals time period, and the consequent increased passenger numbers within these peak times, can impact on queuing times over these periods.

While the immigration authorities at Dublin Airport have no control over the number of flights or their arrival times, management in the Garda National Immigration Bureau is engaged on an ongoing basis with all the stakeholders at Dublin Airport to ensure that passport controls are carried out in an efficient manner so as to ensure that waiting times are kept to a minimum.

Staffing levels at Dublin Airport and all ports of entry to the State are kept under ongoing review by Garda management and recent additional resources, including management personnel, were allocated specifically to Dublin Airport. Apart from the management personnel, local supervisors liaise with the customer service staff of the Dublin Airport Authority on an ongoing basis, both on an informal — daily on each tour of duty — and formal level — weekly and monthly — at senior management level.

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