Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very familiar with Dublin Airport, it being in my own constituency. I know many of the people who work there directly and there is no question that they do a very good job. I absolutely condemn the thuggish behaviour that happened in Dublin Airport last night. I commend the Garda resources and airport police who had to respond to it on the work they have done. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has been holding regular and ongoing briefings with the CEO of the DAA and other senior DAA staff. Recruitment and training of approximately 200 new security staff are under way. That is needed. There is no question that Dublin Airport needs to make sure it has the capacity to ensure that passengers arriving or leaving the airport are able to do so in a prompt manner. In terms of the importance of Dublin Airport for our country, 3% of GNP comes from the airport campus. The airport provides some 20,000 direct jobs and 114,000 indirect jobs. That is without mentioning the importance of the connectivity issues. To be fair, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has been in regular contact with the DAA and is driving it forward on its recruitment campaign for new staff to increase capacity.

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