Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill which puts into legislative effect the November 2008 agreement between the Government and the US Government on air transport preclearance. I welcome the introduction of the Bill and strongly support the main objectives which will widen the scope of the provisions established under the Air Navigation and Transport (Preinspection) Act 1986. I would also like to be associated with the welcome for the new US Homeland Security Chief and former Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano, who visited the Shannon preclearance facilities yesterday.

The legislation will facilitate a much more comprehensive screening and monitoring regime for passengers travelling to the US from Dublin and Shannon Airports, which will in turn allow passengers to move faster and more efficiently through a US airport when they touch down on the other side and give a significant advantage to Dublin and Shannon Airports in facilitating comprehensive preclearance facilities for passengers flying to the US from Europe. Given the serious challenges facing the aviation industry and the declining passenger numbers moving through Irish airports, I hope that the establishment of preclearance at Dublin and Shannon will attract more passengers, transit flights and especially jobs to these two critical airports.

I am often very critical of the Minister on many aspects of transport policy. However, I commend him and the Department on bringing this legislation forward within seven months of the agreement last November. The seven month time span must be a record for this Minister in the introduction of legislation. We have been waiting for more than two years for the road traffic Bill which we hope will contain key legislative provisions. Many people are waiting for it day by day with no sign of it. I welcome that he has brought this Bill before us tonight.

I note that section 21 indicates that the Act will "come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose (including a particular airport, or part of an airport) or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and provisions". Last November and again today the Minister said he hoped the preclearance facilities would be in operation in Shannon Airport next month and in Dublin Airport in November 2010. Section 2 provides that the Minister may designate preclearance areas in a particular airport. If he designates specific parts of the airport, will the preclearance services remain continuously at that location? Will moving their location require regulation from the Minister? Our colleagues might be aware that terminal 2 at Dublin Airport will house the facility. Does the Minister still expect the deadlines for both airports to be met?

I also understand that before the Bill becomes law, diplomatic notes must be exchanged between the Governments of Ireland and the US. What issues will be addressed in the diplomatic notes? Are our diplomatic notes fully prepared? Will there be any consultation? Are there any outstanding security issues still to be addressed given that we are now dealing with the US Department of Homeland Security? What will be the immediate impact of the operation of the facilities on staffing levels in Shannon and Dublin Airport? Will most of the staff involved in the preclearance facilities be US Customs and Immigration Service officials? How many preclearance officers and related support staff will now be relocated to Dublin and Shannon Airports? I appreciate that there will be an economic spin-off from the work of those officers.

What will be status of the 2004 State Airports Act which broke up Aer Rianta and gave legal effect to the full separation of Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports? The decision of the then Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, and then Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, to break up Aer Rianta was strongly opposed by the Labour Party at the time. The subsequent shambles that has emerged under the Ministers, Deputies Cullen and Dempsey, since the separation of the three airports, the allocation of debts between them and the establishment of separate airport authorities for Cork and Shannon have created dreadful confusion and uncertainty for all three airports. Recent reports indicate that the separation of the airports will not now go ahead even though the legislation is in place and separate boards for Cork and Shannon have been established. I would like the Minister to address how the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill 2009 will affect the implementation of the 2004 Act and to state whether that Act will come into effect. The Labour Party believed Aer Rianta was doing a good job of allocating resources in terms of development of Shannon, Dublin and Cork Airports.

The Bill before us will repeal the Air Navigation and Transport (Preinspection) Act 1986 which facilitated the preinspection of passengers to the US from Dublin and Shannon. That Act allowed officials from the Department of Immigration and Naturalisation to invigilate all passengers in terms of INS immigration and public health requirements at Dublin and Shannon Airports. However, as the 1986 legislation states, preinspection does not include inspections required by other United States laws and regulations. As such, the Bill before us provides that passengers will now undergo a much more comprehensive range of checks at Dublin and Shannon Airports, including immigration, public health and customs and agricultural movements. Also, all aeroplanes will be screened for radiological and nuclear threats. Preclearance facilities at Dublin and Shannon will allow disembarking passengers to avoid time consuming procedures. This is particularly true given no other European airport offers preclearance facilities for the United States, which I believe are now only available at some Canadian and Caribbean airports.

The Canadian experience appears to have been positive. There are certain aspects of the US-Canadian agreement which we could emulate, one of which is the five year review which facilitates the operation of preclearance at eight Canadian airports, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. The Canadian Government reports that approximately 11.7 million travellers have since the first preclearance facility commenced in 1952 enjoyed the benefits of preclearance through Canadian airports. I note that all of the preclearance facilities in Canada are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Canadians also convene a preclearance consultative group. I wonder if we will have a similar body for the authorities in Shannon, Dublin, the Department of Transport and the American authorities. The Canadian Government reports that from 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008 more than 4 million people travelled through preclearance facilities at Toronto. The figure for Vancouver is 3 million and for Montreal, 1.5 million.

The benefits of preclearance facilities will make Shannon and Dublin Airports much more attractive to passengers travelling to the US and passengers transiting from other European airports. I welcome the proposal from British Airways in respect of the London city to Shannon route, which will be of major assistance to Shannon. I wonder if the Minister has been briefed on that proposal and whether he has any further information on any similar proposals from other airlines in respect of other airports in Europe or of initiatives being undertaken by the Dublin Airport Authority to attract as many as possible transiting routes and passengers to use the preclearance facilities.

Has the Department of Transport undertaken an analysis of how many extra passengers and how much extra revenue the introduction of preclearance facilities will contribute to Dublin and Shannon? I accept that comparisons with the Caribbean and Canada would differ considerably given the geographical locations. Has any such work been done by the Department? Also, how much extra revenue does the Minister believe will be generated each year at Shannon and Dublin?

I understand a new US destination may also be opened up to Dublin and Shannon with the advent of preclearance. Currently, some US airports do not allow international flights to land because they have no customs or immigration facilities. Has the Minister held discussions with the DAA in regard to facilitating this type of development, in particular at Shannon Airport? I accept the wishes of some of my colleagues from County Clare that we would be prepared to provide additional funding to develop throughput at our first and great international airport at Shannon.

Article 9 of the agreement between the US and Irish Government deals with the cost of preclearance. I would like to know the cost of the establishment of preclearance facilities at Dublin and Shannon Airports. I note there is a €20 million cost in respect of an important new facility at Shannon Airport. In Dublin, a new terminal 2 is being built which is being financed by Dublin Airport. What will be the cost of preclearance facilities at both airports?

Much of the Bill deals with the technical aspects for implementation of the proposed new facilities. Sections 3 and 4 set out the rights and duties of travellers who enter the preclearance area. I welcome the Minister's amendment which allows for the possibility of an honest mistake being made by a traveller when filling out a declaration form, an amendment first proposed by my Labour Party colleagues in the Seanad. It would be relatively easy in such situations for persons to underestimate in the official declaration form the value of certain goods.

Sections 5 and 6 set out the functions of preclearance officers and of Irish law enforcement officers. We are creating new offences in the Bill. I note that Canada took a slightly different approach with regard to some of those offences. On that point, will Irish law enforcement officers, the Garda Síochána, always take pre-eminence in the preclearance area or will preclearance officers from the United States have an equal standing with our Irish law enforcement officials? I welcome also the Minister's amendment No. 3 which states that nothing in the Act shall be construed as permitting a preclearance officer to be in possession of a weapon in the performance of his or her functions under this Act. The Minister will note that I have tabled a similar amendment on behalf of the Labour Party.

Section 13 deals with diplomatic privileges and immunities to which preclearance officers will be subject. These appear to be the same as those applying to diplomatic staff. Perhaps the Minister will say if this is standard procedure wherever the Americans have preclearance in other jurisdictions? In that context, will the Irish Government and authorities have access to background information on preclearance officers who will be stationed at Shannon and Dublin? We have such information in respect of embassy staff.

I note it was stated in the Department's press release in regard to the Aviation (Preclearance) Bill that Shannon will be the only airport designated to facilitate preclearance for private US-bound aircraft. Will special or enhanced security measures be put in place to invigilate private aircraft using Shannon given the safety and security issues at stake? The Minister will be aware of the question marks over security at small airports around the country. An example is Weston Airport — I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will recall this — from which a flight to Belgium originated and in respect of which a large consignment of heroin was found. What measures will be put in place at Shannon to ensure that private aeroplanes are subject to the strictest standards of monitoring and invigilation?

The Labour Party has long campaigned against the illegal and despicable practice of rendition, which involves the transfer in military aircraft of people from one State to another, outside of all standard judicial and administrative processes, and has allegedly routinely involved the use of torture. I have travelled in the past to Shannon with my colleagues Deputies Michael D. Higgins, Joe Costello and Jan O'Sullivan to protest against the use of Shannon Airport for the purpose of rendition flights. I understand that the standard reply of the Government has been that it has sought assurances from the US Government that rendition flights have never been routed through Shannon. Given President Obama's decision to close Guantanamo Bay and the preclearance monitoring mechanisms being discussed today, the Minister and his colleagues should insist on a strong and transparent system of monitoring and inspecting all foreign aircraft that use our airport facilities. We should provide that the Garda Síochána can inspect every aeroplane, including all military aircraft, that lands at Shannon, Dublin or anywhere else.

I understand that although the US-Canadian preclearance agreement is fully reciprocal, the Canadians have chosen not to operate preclearance facilities at US airports. Our agreement is also reciprocal. Is there any advantage to our considering Ireland having preclearance facilities at American airports? I understand that the Canadian Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Transport are currently overseeing an independent review of the impact of the evolving economic, security, regulatory, legislative, airport and airline environment on the administration and operation of the Preclearance Act since 2 May 2003, which was designated to take place five years after the agreement came into place. This appears to be a useful practice. Would the Government be prepared to have a similar five-yearly review for the operation of the Irish-US agreement? It would improve the economic prospects of Shannon Airport in particular.

The Canadians have also indicated that even though they have experienced very few complaints from passengers using the system, they advise individuals with a complaint about the preclearance process to take advantage of the United States Department of Homeland Security's traveller redress inquiry programme — TRIP — which addresses complaints about watch list misidentification issues, situations where travellers believe they face screen problems at ports of entry and situations where travellers believe they have been unfairly or incorrectly delayed, denied boarding or identified for additional screening or secondary inspection at ports of entry. Will Irish passengers be informed about and directed through the TRIP system?

I pay tribute to the staff of the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, who gave us an important briefing that included much of the material dealing with Canada. I note in their excellent briefing document that there are potential environmental and congestion impacts. Can the Minister provide information on the analysis of the environmental impact of the introduction of preclearance when aircraft are included in the CO2 regime in Europe?

The Dublin Airport Authority recently postponed plans for a second runway at Dublin. Will the possible increase in flights as a result of preclearance lead to an early review of that decision? For both Dublin and Shannon Airports there will be a need for ongoing reviews of congestion from preclearance.

Before the end of this session I want to mention the growing difficulties in the Irish aviation sector. Any new service that will enhance Irish aviation facilities and attract more passengers is clearly greatly welcome. Ryanair has announced in the past few weeks, however, that it will cut two planes from its fleet, with the loss of 36 flights a week from Shannon and 44 flights from Dublin. The reduction in service means that 100 Ryanair and reportedly 550 further aircraft jobs will be lost. Those appalling losses come on the back of the Aer Lingus announcement that it will cut its winter flight schedule between Shannon and New York and Chicago. Delta Airlines has also announced the end of scheduled transatlantic service from Shannon from October. Last month the Dublin Airport Authority also reported plans to cut 400 jobs in Dublin and Shannon Airports. Listening to my colleagues from Clare talking about regional imbalance, it is important to note that the 400 jobs lost in Dublin were highly skilled positions and those workers will not be able to find further employment in north and west Dublin. It is critical we fight for jobs no matter where they are because both airports are critical to Ireland's future.

The reduction in services and jobs follows a serious decline in passenger numbers. This month the CSO reported that in the first three months of 2009, there was a 13% decrease in the number of trips being taken abroad in comparison with the same period in 2008. Traffic through Dublin Airport is expected to drop from 23.5 million to 20 million this year while traffic in Shannon will decline drastically from 3.6 million at the end of 2008 to 3.2 million. These recent decisions will also have a negative impact on Shannon Airport. Ryanair has alleged in 2009 that 2.5 million airline passengers, 2,500 aviation jobs and €1.5 billion in tourism revenue will be lost.

These are all astonishing statistics that the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste should be addressing. We are introducing this Bill at a time of escalating crisis in Irish aviation. Passengers have never faced such a range of extra charges from both the airlines and the airports. Last week, the Commissioner for Aviation Regulation, Mr. Cathal Guiomard, announced a 13% increase in passenger charges, from €7.39 in 2009 to €8.35 in 2010 for Dublin Airport. Charges are set to rise again next year with the opening of the second terminal.

A key criticism from airlines and operators across the spectrum of the travel industry is the negative impact of the €10 air travel tax, which the Minister for Finance introduced in the October budget. In Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Spain, similar travel taxes have been axed by the national governments because they want to encourage more people to travel by air in these challenging times.

I have asked the Taoiseach repeatedly about this issue. There was presumably a cost-benefit analysis of the travel tax. It is supposed to bring in €145 million in a full year. We have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the past year and a half. Clearly, the cost benefit for the travel tax is negative so it is ludicrous and it is time to revisit it. The Government's normal reaction is to attack the chief executive of Ryanair, with whom I have differences, but on this matter he is telling us about the situation in an accurate way. It is not worth losing 8,000 jobs in Shannon, Dublin and Cork Airports over this crazy tax. There will be a budget in October and we should get rid of it then.

It is not just the travel and tourism sector of the aviation industry that is troubled at the moment, there is also a serious crisis in the aviation maintenance and heavy engineering sector in Ireland. The Minister rightly said several times in his speech that aviation is a critical industry to us and one we are good at. The Government, however, has allowed the centre of aviation engineering education and excellence to fall apart in the past nine months. This is an appalling act of vandalism. I see the workers who have been laid off, senior staff in their 40s and 50s with few prospects of immediate re-employment. They were the best at what they did on this planet and for the sake of €16 million, the Minister was not prepared to maintain the facilities in Dublin, Shannon and in Rathcoole. The Minister was not prepared to make a stand on those jobs, an act of incredible folly.

I am sick and tired of asking the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Transport what is happening with the proposed buy-out of SR Technics. All we know is that a lot of hangars are empty where 1,200 people used to work at a high quality, in highly skilled jobs, enjoying a global reputation for expertise. It is incredible and one of many reasons there should be a general election. No other Government could have done as badly.

In the past few days we have given a zombie casino bank €3 billion that we will now have to sweat blood to pay for. That Minister would not give €16 million to preserve an aviation engineering facility. I urge the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues to consider facilitating the purchase of the SRT capital equipment and make the SRT hangars available for a new commercial State enterprise, an enterprise with majority State shareholding, or one supported by IDA Ireland. We need more comprehensive attention on this matter.

On the issue before us, the Minister and his Department are rightly stressing the urgent need for this legislation because of the benefits it should bring to the troubled aviation sector. In recognising this fact, the Minister should agree to broader measures to enhance the aviation engineering and maintenance sector. I have made a number of proposals that I hope the Minister will consider when we reach Committee Stage. I broadly welcome the Bill and hope the Minister will provide further information and clarification on the issues I have raised.

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