Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The internationally accepted and adopted approach to security is that passenger and baggage screening takes place on departure rather than on arrival. Every country relies on the security arrangements in the departing country. It is accepted that there are some states where security is not as it should be. That is something I raised at the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in the context of the wider discussion of security, body scanners and other types of security measures that could be implemented.

What happened in Slovakia was a bit of an aberration. I understand it was a relatively small airport that has adequate security but a mistake was made due to human error. That is something about which we should all be conscious given the fact that groups such as al-Qaeda are using aeroplanes to carry out dastardly operations. It is something the international community could consider more closely. I understand the European Commission has asked the Slovakian authorities for a report. The remit of the detective garda is to investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident, both in terms of what happened in Slovakia and in this country. The Garda acted expeditiously and properly once it was notified on 5 January that this incident had taken place.

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